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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 







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CHRISTIAN UNION 



CHRISTIAN UNION; 



OR, 



AN ARGUMENT FOR THE ABOLITION OF 



SECTS 



BY ABRAHAM VAN DYCK, 

COUNSELLOR AT LAW- 



Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every 
city or house divided against itself shall not stand. — Matt. xii. 25. 

Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ 

that there be no divisions among you. — 1 Cor. i. 10. 

And the glory which thou givest me, I have given them, that they may be 
one, even as we are one. — John xvii. 22. 



TO WHICH IS PREFIXED, 



A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. 



NEW-YORK: 




D. APPLETON & Co., 200 BROADWAY. 



M DCCC XXXV. 






Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1835, 
By D. APPLETON & Co., 
In the Clerk s Office of the District Court of the United States for the South- 
ern District of New- York. 



jl<r?.0 



R. P. Hopkins & Son, vrint-. 44 Nassau-street- jJ 



DEDICATION. 



To the Rev. David Jlbeel, American Missionary to South 
Eastern Asia. 

Rev. and Pear Sir : 

Entertaining the highest respect for your Christian 
character and intelligence, and appreciating your fervent 
zeal in the cause of our common Master, as well as your 
services and self-denial in the promotion of his kingdom 
as a minister and a missionary, I deem myself happy in 
dedicating to you this publication. 

The divisions in the church of Christ have long been 
to me, as they have been to many of the friends of reli- 
gion, the cause of much anxious solicitude ; to none, 
perhaps, more so than to the missionary among the hea- 
then. He, having escaped from the atmosphere and in- 
fluence of sect, soon learns to stand on the broad ground 
of the Bible, is enabled to take an impartial view of the 
nature, use, and wants of the church, and perceives the 
sin and folly of controversy and warfare among the friends 
of Christ, when all the energy and strength of union is 
required to resist and vanquish the hosts of darkness. 

From my personal knowledge of your catholic princi- 
ples, the tenor of your communications made from the 
places of your missionary labours, and the sentiments 
expressed in your public addresses since your return 



VI 

from Asia, I am persuaded you have often, while in hea- 
then lands, exclaimed with Henry Martyn, " How small 
and unimportant are the hair-splitting disputes of the 
blessed people at home, compared with the formidable 
agents of the devil which we have to combat here !" and 
that, with David Brainerd, you have felt a deep abhor- 
rence and loathing of every thing like party jn religion. 

The question has often presented itself to those who 
have mourned over the breaches in the family of Christ, 
What must be done to heal them, so that the church may 
not only appear in all the genuine beauty of its original 
unity, as constituted by its Head, but may present an 
unbroken front to withstand the many and powerful ad- 
versaries which impede her march to the conquest of the 
world? This question is attempted to be answered in 
the following pages, in which the author has also assum- 
ed the task of proving that the division of the church into 
sects is unlawful, unconstitutional, and pregnant with 
evil. He has likewise presented such motives as appear 
to him to be of sufficient weight to induce every friend 
of the church, who may receive the doctrine herein ad- 
vanced, to put forth his efforts to restore its unity. 
I am, Rev. and Dear Sir, 

Yours in the love of the gospel, 

THE AUTHOR. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 

THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 

Proof that the church is one by the constitution of Page 

God ...... 5 

Proof that division into sects is a breach of its unity 9 

The bond of union . . . ■ . . 23 

CHAPTER II. 

THE EVILS OF SECT. 

1. It banishes love and peace ... 33 

2. Cherishes pride ..... 36 

3. Multiplies false professors of religion . . 37 

4. Keeps men from the proper reading of the Bible 39 

5. Prevents reformation in doctrine and Christian 

practice 43 

6. Strengthens opposers of religion . . 50 

7. Retards the latter day glory . . , . 51 

8. Weakens the church, and tends to destroy it 55 

CHAPTER III. 

OBJECTIONS TO THE ABOLITION OF SECTS ANSWERED. 

1. That the benefit of emulation will be lost . 63 

2. That it involves a sacrifice of principle to unite 

with Christians who have not the same faith 66 

3. That divers denominations are necessary to pre- 

serve the purity of doctrine ... 76 

4. That divers denominations are necessary to op- 

erate to advantage upon all classes of the peo- 
ple ....... 81 



Vlll 



5. The danger of uniting church and state . 82 

6. That if sects were abolished, the church would 

soon be again divided 84 

CHAPTER IV. 

OBSTACLES TO THE REUNION OF THE CHURCH CONSI- 
DERED. 

1. The power of long cherished habits and opinions 88 

2. The powerful interests that bind men to sect 90 

3. The subjection of the periodical press to the in- 

terests of sect ..... 93 

4. The fear of odium and contempt . . 94 

5. The many objects of attention already before 

the Christian public . . . .96 

6. The present low state -of religion . . 98 

7. Human creeds and systems of theology . 100 

CHAPTER V. 

THE FACILITIES OR ENCOURAGEMENTS TO THE REUNION 
OF THE CHURCH. 

1. Staleness of religious controversy . . 104 

2. Experience for two hundred years of the evils 

of division 105 

3. The union of several denominations actually 

formed for various benevolent purposes . 105 

4. Evidence of the harmonious faith of Christians, 

furnished by the publications of the American 
Tract Society . . . . . LQ6 

5. The alarm manifested by the advocates of sect 106 

6. The alarm manifested by the enemies of reli- 

gion ....... 107 

7. Recent publications evincing a growing desire 

of union among Christians . . .107 



IX 



8. The diffusion of useful knowledge . . Ill 

9. The sure word of prophecy . . .112 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE MEANS FOR RESTORING THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 

1. Confess the sin of division, and ask forgiveness 

ofGod . ... . . .120 

2. Cease from unprofitable controversy . . 133 

3. Return to scriptural principles in licensing min- 

isters of the gospel, and receiving church mem- 
bers 136 

4. Cherish love to Christians of all denominations 141 

CHAPTER VII. 

the means for restoring the unity of the church, 
(continued.) 

5. Labour to elevate the standard of religion . 148 

6. Encourage the benevolent associations of the 

day 156 

7. Return to the primitive mode of reading the Bi- 

ble 171 

8. Cherish the spirit of prayer appropriate to the 

times, especially for a more devoted and more 
efficient ministry 178 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE OPERATION AND RESULT OF THE MEANS TO 

BE EMPLOYED . . . . .183 

IX. 

AN APPEAL TO CHRISTIANS OF EVERY DENOMINA- 
TION 212 



PREFACE. 

The main subject discussed in the following pages 
was some years ago pressed, by a particular providence, 
upon the attention of the author, and has continued to 
occupy more or less of his thoughts ever since that time. 
He has endeavoured to discover the truth by a direct ap- 
plication and study of the Holy Scriptures ; and the re- 
sult has been a strong and settled conviction of the cor- 
rectness of the principles advocated in this work. He 
believes that the church was originally constituted by its 
Founder one and indivisible — that the divisions which 
have broken it in pieces are in direct violation of this 
constitution, and have brought a flood of evils upon the 
church, which have hitherto kept her from rising to the 
glory to which she is destined. 

The author does not advocate an immediate or hasty 
amalgamation of sects, or the formation of churches em- 
bracing all Christians of every creed. He earnestly de- 
precates such measures until a better feeling shall pre- 
vail than exists at the present time. But he insists that 
as the church was originally constituted one, and will be 
one in heaven, and also on earth in the period of the lat- 
ter day glory, it ought to be one now ; but since it is not, 
that Christians are under obligation to restore its unity, 
and ought to enter immediately upon the work of prepa- 



XI 

ration to bring about this desirable result. He has ven- 
tured to specify some of the means which he believes 
will tend to promote it, though he admits that the chief 
reliance must be on the direction of God, as to the pro- 
per means, and his blessing upon them. And this direc- 
tion and blessing he is confident will not be withholden, 
when God's people shall have entered in earnest upon 
the work. It is not deemed necessary to make any apo- 
logy for presenting this book to the public. The doc- 
trines it advances are not new, but have had their advo- 
cates ever since the protestant church has been despoiled 
of her beauty and shorn of her strength by the loss of her 
unity. But their voice has been unheard or unheeded 
amidst the din of religious controversy, and the rage of 
party feeling. The author is persuaded that at the pre- 
sent time the state of the church imperiously calls for a 
work of the kind now presented, and that the minds of 
many are prepared to give it a cordial welcome, although 
the great mass may yet be unwilling to listen to the over- 
ture of union. A considerable change, he thinks, has 
manifested itself in the feelings of Christians in the course 
of a few months past. He believes that now, in the midst 
of existing distractions and divisions, the spirit of union 
is operating upon the hearts of God's children, and that 
there are now many encouragements to the immediate 
commencement of the work of healing the breaches of 
Zion. 
The author is not an advocate for latitudinarian prin- 



Xll 

ciples, and would not open the doors of the church wider 
than the Scriptures require, nor does he wittingly under- 
value the importance of any religious truth. But he be- 
lieves that aside from the cardinal doctrines of man's 
depravity and guilt in the sight of a holy God — the way 
of his pardon, and restoration to Divine favour through 
the blood and mediation of his Son, and the necessity of 
regeneration through the influence of the Holy Spirit — 
there is not, perhaps, any truth of the Bible more impor- 
tant to the prosperity of the church than the doctrine of 
its unity. Now is there any duty of more pressing obli- 
gation upon Christians at the present time than that of 
labouring and making every allowable sacrifice to termi- 
nate its divisions, and bring it back to its original unity ? 

THE AUTHOR. 
January, 1835. 



A SKETCH 



LIFE OF THE AUTHOR 



The author of this volume was a lawyer by profes- 
sion, and died in February, 1835, at his residence in 
Coxsackie, N. Y. Though a man of talents, he was 
never ambitious of notoriety. He was always ready to 
do his duty, but never wished to appear conspicuous ; 
yet his general character was well known to many 
friends of morality and religion in this country. To 
others, the following extracts of a letter may not be un- 
acceptable : 

" A memoir of Mr. Van Dyck, if justice could be 
done to the subject, could not fail of being in a high 
degree, both interesting and useful. He was a Chris- 
tian of uncommon attainments in religious experi- 
ence, as well as knowledge- It could truly be said of 
him, that he lived near to God. Sometimes for months 
together, in the best sense, he walked in the light of his 
countenance. At such seasons, divine communion was 
the element in which his mind habitually moved. So 
strongly did his thoughts and desires tend upwards, that, 
at every cessation of professional business, or worldly 
cares, he found himself with God. Of such things, he 
was by no means very communicative. He never loved 
to talk of himself; he always shunned it if he could; 
yet at times, to an intimate friend, and for some good 
purpose, he was willing to declare what the Lord had 



XIV 



done for his soul. At the close of his life, he was in a 
state of perfect peace and assurance. For the last five 
years, scarce a momentary cloud ever obscured his pros- 
pects ; yet he was no enthusiast. No man examined 
more carefully the ground on which he trod, or could 
more intelligently give a reason of his hope. 

" He had habitually very exalted and endearing views 
of God and Christ ; and was very sensitive to every 
thing that might effect his intercourse with them. His 
mind was much occupied with these great objects, and 
was much alive to their glory. Hence he not only 
abounded in prayer, but delighted in it. He loved to 
pray. It was a pleasure, and not a burden. The sanc- 
tuary, the social meeting, the family and the closet, all 
bore witness to his devotional spirit. His prayers were 
particularly remarkable for the confession of sin. That 
abominable thing was exceedingly his abhorrence ; and 
he saw a great deal of it where ordinary Christians see 
but little. His sensibility on this point increased very 
much in his last days ; yet he was not a gloomy but 
cheerful Christian. — Equally remarkable was he in pray- 
er for a pleading spirit, and for a childlike simplicity of 
manner. Then he felt that he had no ground of reliance, 
but the mediation of Christ ; and that here he could rest 
with the utmost confidence. No person could attach 
more importance to the divinity, atonement, and inter- 
cession of Christ, as practical doctrines, especially in 
prayer. Then he would dwell with peculiar interest on 
the infinite love and grace of God exhibited in the gos- 
pel, as encouragement to prayer, and as calculated to 
affect" the hearts of sinners. No one could attach great- 
er importance to the presence and influence of the Holy 
Spirit. The Comforter was a friend whom he most 
highly valued, and most tenderly loved. He never in- 



XV 



dulged in any thing like affectation of feeling ; yet his 
emotions in prayer were sometimes too strong for utter- 
ance. Tears then became the best expression of what 
passed within. Many instances could be named. 

"As to doctrinal views, he was far from being loose or 
unsettled. He was decidedly what is commonly called 
a Calvinist ; though he was by no means so bigotted but 
that he could clearly distinguish between what was, and 
what was not, essential to the system. The relative im- 
portance which he ascribed to various truths, was regu- 
lated by the best standard. In this respect, as in others, 
he was eminently a Bible Christian. The sacred vol- 
ume he studied a great deal ; and that with an humble 
and teachable disposition. The Spirit he loved to hon- 
our in looking for his aid to understand the Scriptures. 
By this means, he found them an inexhaustible treasure, 
from which he became greatly enriched. 

" Enlightened by revelation, he looked upon the pro- 
gress of society with the deepest interest. He took 
pleasure in the fact, that in this country, from the liberal 
nature of our institutions, necessity was laid upon us for 
promoting the intellectual and moral improvement of all 
classes. He anticipated a time when the associations 
and intercouse of men, would depend more on moral 
worth, than artificial distinctions. He thought our aim 
should be to raise the people, and receive from them 
every wholesome influence. He looked upon mankind 
with the Bible in his hand; then, seeing at once their 
ruin, and the way of their recovery, he was anxious that 
the remedy should be applied without delay. Regard- 
ing the gospel as the only moral renovator of the world, 
he was very anxious to see its free course, both at home 
and abroad. For this end, he not only prayed, but 
laboured and expended. Few persons, in proportion to 



XVI 



their means, gave as much for benevolent objects ; and 
no where, certainly, was there a more cheerful giver. 
Upon the church, likewise, he looked with the Bible in 
his hand ; and seeing by its light many things that ap- 
peared wrong, he was anxious to see them brought back 
to where the apostles had left them. Particularly did 
he long to see that brotherly love, and that union of feel- 
ing and effort in the great work of the world's salvation, 
for which Christians were once so remarkable. What 
Mr. Grimke called " the genius of the existing order of 
things," he regarded as an incubus upon the church, 
which stifled her life an energy. 

" From what has now been said, it might be inferred, 
that he must have neglected the common duties of life, 
and those of his profession. This, however, was far 
from being the case. By diligence, and a proper divis- 
ion of time, he was able to attend to these, as well as to 
his religious duties. His brethren of the bar will testify, 
that as a lawyer, he did a great deal, and did it well. 
Yet religion was his delight. A few years before his 
death, he entertained serious thoughts of relinquishing 
the practice of law, for the purpose of being more direct- 
ly and extensively engaged in doing good. On reflec- 
tion, however, he became convinced that it was not his 
duty. 

" These must be regarded as merely a few, brief, and 
very imperfect hints, of what he was. A full portrait 
would require a volume. None, who have enjoyed op- 
portunities of knowing him, will hesitate to place him in 
the same rank with such men as Evarts, Grimke and 
Wirt." 



CHRISTIAN UNION; 



AN ARGUMENT FOR THE ABOLITION OF SECTS. 



Should our Saviour this day come down from heaven, 
take up his abode on earth, and in his human nature as- 
sume the immediate government of the church, would he 
look with complacency on its divisions into sects and de- 
nominations 1 Would his scattered followers appear in 
his eye as different streams, all beautifully flowing into 
one mighty river, or as one great army, composed of 
many legions, all having the same views, and harmoni- 
ously co-operating under the same counsels ? Would 
he not rather express his sorrow and indignation that the 
demon of discord had been permitted to sow dissention 
among his disciples, and that thereby the world, instead 
of having been subdued into faithful subjection to his 
kingdom, by the united power of his forces, is yet as to 
nine-tenths of it, under the dominion of Heathenism, 
delusion, and error. 

1 



The personal advent of Christ is expected by only a 
small number of his professed disciples ; and for all the 
purposes of our present subject, we may take it for grant- 
ed, that he will continue on his throne in heaven, until his 
mediatorial work shall be completed ; and that to the 
end of the world he will govern the church by his minis- 
ters, his word, and his spirit, and upon the principles de- 
clared in the Scriptures of everlasting truth ; so that we 
must needs be content to answer the above inquiries 
from what is taught in the Bible, instead of waiting for a 
new revelation from the great head of the church, whose 
word, already written, endureth for ever. 

Among Protestant Christians there are some who 
maintain that the division of the church into sects and 
denominations, instead of being detrimental, is rather 
advantageous to her best interests. A second class ap- 
prehend it to be injurious, but entertain so little hope of 
healing the division, that they give a ready ear to any 
flatterer that may undertake to show its advantages, and 
are thus kept in a state of doubt, and consequent inaction. 
There is another class, who seem to be convinced that 
the schisms in the church are a great evil, but do not put 
forth a wish to have a remedy applied in any other way 
than by the universal prevalence of the sect to which they 
belong. And we are happy in the belief that there are 
also many among the people of God, who are perfectly 
convinced that the rending asunder of the church of 
Christ is the source of many and great evils, and that it 
is a flagrant breach of the unity of the church, as consti- 
tuted by its head ; and who are desiring and praying that 
the omniscient G od may lead his children to discern and 
carry into effect the proper remedy. There are proba- 
bly but few intelligent Christians, whose minds are not, 



in some measure, exercised upon this important subject. 
A spirit of solicitude and inquiry is abroad, and the inte- 
rest of the attentive disciple is increased by what he sees 
to be transpiring in the providence of God. The finger 
of the Almighty is pointing to a re-union of the church, 
according to its original constitution, as the only hope of 
saving her from being torn into such fragments as to 
render it impossible to sustain her institutions. 

We believe that God has graciously provided a reme- 
dy for all the evils that afflict his church, and that the 
time and measure of redress depend upon the discern- 
ment and faithful exertions of his children, in an humble 
reliance upon his assistance. We are confident that the 
evil of division is palpable and intolerable, and that the 
remedy is obviously indicated in the word of God itself. 
But as the first step towards relief is to convince the se- 
rious and watchful Christian of the existence of the evil, 
and the next step is to point out the remedy, and show 
the practicability of its successful application, we make 
our earnest appeal to Christians of every denomination, 
entreating their candid and patient attention to the dis- 
cussion of these momentous topics. 



CHAPTER I. 



OF THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 



1. V roof that the Church is one. Unity essential to accomplish 
God's design in establishing the Church. Its unity indicated in 
the Old Testament. Taught in the New Testament by Christ and 
his A postles. — 2. Division into Sects is a breach of its unity. So be- 
lieved the Apostles, the primitive Christians of the three first centu- 
ries, and the Reformers, and so teaches Christ in his intercessory 
prayer, and in his figure of the vine and its branches. So teaches 
Paul in his figure of the human body and its members, of a family, 
of a sheep-fold. The bond of union is love^ and that is preserved 
by forbearance in matters of opinion and practice. 

The church of God was set up prior to the manifesta- 
tion of Jesus Christ in the flesh ; whether in Abraham, 
as the father of the faithful, or in the descendants of Ja- 
cob, or at what period of the Old Testament history, it 
is not material to our present purpose to determine. The 
design of God in the erection of the church, was, in the 
first stage of its existence, to preserve a holy seed for 
his worship and service in the midst of an idolatrous and 
wicked world ; to receive and transmit to future genera- 
ions the revelation of God's will to man in his fallen 



state ; and ultimately to diffuse the knowledge and in- 
fluence of religion throughout the whole earth. 

Although the holy spirit, speaking by the mouth of 
David, and the prophets subsequent to his day, foretold 
a future period, when the church should appear in the 
greatness and glory to which God had destined her, his 
ultimate design, in the erection of the church, was not 
communicated to the Old Testament saints, in the form 
of a command to extend her bounds and influence, so as 
to embrace the whole family of mankind. This was re- 
served until the time of the appearance of Christ in the 
world, and then was the command given by himself to 
his disciples to teach all nations, and to preach the gos- 
pel to every creature. Yet God, who sees and compre- 
hends all things, from the beginning to the end, so con- 
stituted the church, at its first erection, as to combine in 
it the principles of that moral power which he saw to be 
necessary for the accomplishment of his ultimate design. 
The church was to be the instrument, in his hands, of 
resisting the assaults of wicked men and the hosts of 
hell, and eventually to vanquish them, and deliver the 
world from the thraldom of Satan and sin, by bringing it 
under the lawful and happy dominion of the Saviour. 

Whenever power, either of a physical or of a moral 
nature, is placed in the hands of members, it is essential 
that there should be between them all that union of which 
they are capable. And God has most unequivocally de- 
clared his mind, that the individuals composing his church, 
should be held together by a strong, indissoluble bond of 
union. 

1. God has constituted the church one and indivisible. 

It has but one head, and that is Christ. Col. i. 18. 
Under the Old Testament dispensation, prior to the build- 
1* 



ing of the temple, the manifestation of God's glory was 
in the cloud and in the tabernacle. There was but one 
cloud, and there was only one tabernacle, nor was there 
more than one ark of the covenant. And thus was the 
unity of the church represented in that period. After 
the children of Israel had taken full possession of the 
land of promise, the unity of the church was demonstrat- 
ed by the erection of one temple ; and to this one tem- 
ple all the tribes of Israel were commanded to resort for 
the public worship of Jehovah. 

If the unity of the church constituted any portion of its 
excellence, beauty, or strength, under the first dispensa- 
tions, it would be strange indeed, if, under the New Tes- 
tament, we had found a warrant for the severance of this 
union. In the history of our Lord and Saviour, we find 
no intimation from him that the unity of the church was 
not to be preserved, nor any warrant for a division of the 
church into distinct denominations, sects, or parties. 
His intercessory prayer for his church, which consists of 
all believers, is, " that they all may be one," as the father 
was in him and he in the father, " that the world may be- 
lieve that thou hast sent me." John, xvii. 21. And in 
the next verse he says, " And the glory which thou ga- 
vest me I have given them, that they may be one, even 
as we are one." These words do most evidently con- 
vey the idea of a most intimate union between the follow- 
ers of Christ, even as that which subsisted between him 
and his father ; and this union was to be visible to all 
mankind, that the world, seeing the union of his disci- 
ples, might believe that the father had sent him. An 
union of heart, merely without an open visible union, 
which the world would perceive, could have no influence 
in convincing the world of the divine mission of Christ. 



Valuable and indispensable as an union of heart among 
believers is to the prosperity and beauty of the church, it 
is the open, visible, and known union of the disciples, 
that must conquer the prejudices and convince the under- 
standings of the men of the world into the belief that 
Jesus Christ came from God. There is no force, no 
appropriateness, (be it spoken with reverence,) in the 
prayer, if an union of heart is all that is asked. No ; 
this prayer of our Lord will not be answered ; the avow- 
ed object for which he desired that his people might be 
one, will not be accomplished, until Christians shall be 
one in affection, in counsel, in action, and in name. 

Though the personal ministry of Christ was confined 
to the Jewish nation, he knew that under the dispensa- 
tion of the spirit and through the preaching of the Apos- 
tles, the Gentiles would also be called into the church, 
which before that period embraced only the children of 
Israel. When the Gentiles should thus be brought to 
embrace the gospel, there was not to be a Gentile church 
as distinguished from that of the Jews, and a line of di- 
vision drawn between them ; but they together were to 
form one church. In express reference to that event 
the Saviour says, John x. 16, " Other sheep I have 
which are not of this fold ; them also must I bring in, 
and they shall hear my voice ; and there shall be onefold 
and one shepherd." And after the gospel had, subse- 
quent to the death of the Saviour, been propagated among 
the Gentiles, and many in the city of Ephesus had been 
received into the family of believers, St. Paul, in the se- 
cond chapter of his epistle, addressing the Ephesian 
converts, says, " But now in Christ Jesus, ye who some- 
time were afar off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ, 
for he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath 



8 



broken down the middle wall of partition between us ; 
having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of 
commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in 
himself of twain one new man, so making peace ; and 
that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by 
the cross, having slain the enmity thereby ; and came 
and preached peace to you which were afar off and to 
them that were nigh. For by him we both have access 
by one spirit unto the father." 

The doctrine of the unity of the church, so plain- 
ly declared by the Saviour, was taught and ear- 
nestly inculcated by his Apostles, unddr the plenary in- 
spiration of the Holy Ghost. St. Paul represents the 
unity of the church under the figure of a human body, 
consisting, indeed, of many members, but between which 
there is an intimate union and necessary dependence, 
and between which a schism cannot take place, without 
endangering the destruction of the body itself. " For as 
the body is one and hath many members, and all the 
members of that one body being many are one body ; so 
also is Christ." 1 Cor. xii. 12. " For the body is not 
one member but many. If the foot shall say, because I 
am not the hand, I am not of the body ; is it therefore 
not of the body?" v. 14, 15. "Now are they many 
members yet but one body, and the eye cannot say to the 
hand I have no need of thee, nor again the head to the 
feet, I have no need of you." v. 20, 21. " That there 
should be no schism in the body, but that the members 
should have the same care one for another. And whe- 
ther one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. 
Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in parti- 
cular." v. 25, 26, 27. 

When the same Apostle reproves the Corinthians for 



9 



their contentions and divisions, he proves to them the in- 
admissibility and absurdity of such divisions, by putting 
the emphatic question, " Is Christ divided V f leaving it 
to themselves to draw the inference irresistibly flowing 
from it, that as Christ, the head of the church, is one and 
indivisible, so must the members of Christ, constituting 
the church, be one among themselves, as well as one 
with him. 1 Cor. i. 10 to 13. Believers are declared 
by St. Paul to be members of Christ's body. Eph. v. 
30. " For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and 
of his bones. 1 Cor. xii. 27. " Ye are the body of 
Christ and members in particular." And they are de- 
clared to be members one of another, constituting the 
body of Christ. Rom. xii. 4, 5. "For as we have 
many members in one body, and all members have not 
the same office, so we being many are one body in Christ, 
and every one members one of another." The saints 
are declared to be the family of God on earth, excluding 
the idea that there may be more than a single family con- 
stituting the church of Christ. And in the first chapter 
of the first epistle to the Corinthians, the Apostle be- 
seeches them, by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
that they all speak the same thing, and that there be no 
divisions among them ; but that they be perfectly joined 
together in the same mind and in the same judgement. 
1 Cor. i. 10. 

2. The division of the church into sects is a violation 
of its constitutional unity. 

Having proved the unity of the church by the consti- 
tution of God himself, we proceed to show that its divi- 
sion into denominations and sects, is a violation of this 
unity. A division into congregations cannot be under- 
stood to be a breach of this unity, when made for the 



10 



sake of local convenience, and in the spirit of love ; but 
we speak of those divisions which result from disagree- 
ment and contention, and from the assumed impossibility 
or difficulty of remaining together in peace. 

The unity of the church was understood in this sense 
by Christ himself; and it was so understood by his Apos- 
tles after his ascension into heaven, and the plenary ef- 
fusion of the holy spirit on the day of Pentecost. That 
some difference would arise among true believers, on 
doctrinal and practical subjects, was known to the Sa- 
viour and his Apostles ; for they were well acquainted 
with the imperfections of the human understanding ; but 
neither he nor they could have suffered the thought of a 
division of the church, for such a cause, to have been 
harboured for a moment in the minds of Christians. 

Every reader of the Acts of the Apostles knows that 
an unhappy disagreement arose between Paul, who was 
specially designated to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, 
and some of the Jews in those parts where he minister- 
ed. When the news of this disagreement was carried to 
Jerusalem, some of the Apostles who laboured in that 
city and in the adjoining country of the Jews, took sides 
against Paul. It is evident, from the fifteenth chapter of 
the Acts, taken in connexion with the second chapter of 
the epistle to the Galatians, that this matter caused a 
strong excitement, easily accounted for from the nature of 
the subject, and the circumstances attending the case. 
But neither party took the ground that they might be con- 
sidered as belonging, one to the Jewish and the other to 
the Gentile church, and so each pursue his own course 
independently of the other. No ; they knew they must 
be united ; that they had no right to rend asunder the 
church which God had joined together in the bond of in- 



11 



violable union ; and that by suffering the commencement 
of schisms, a train of evils would bebrought upon the church 
of which they were unable to calculate the amount of du- 
ration. Paul, taking with him Barnabas and Titus, went 
to Jerusalem, and conferred with the other Apostles ; an 
amicable understanding was, after considerable diffi- 
culty, effected, and the threatened rupture happily avoid- 
ed ; the parties acting in the spirit of conciliation and 
forbearance. 

Whenever dissentions arise in communities, a separa- 
tion between the parties at variance, is, to the corrupt 
mind of man, a natural suggestion. This separation 
may often be proper and harmless in those communities 
which are not designed to be of permanent duration. And 
the seeds of disunion being easily sown in the church, 
there has been from the beginning, notwithstanding ths 
evident design of God that the church should endure to 
the end of the world, a disposition for one to say to the 
other, in case of any disagreement,- " Stand by thyself." 
Had Paul yielded to this spirit, how plausible might have 
seemed to him the expediency of setting up himself as the 
head of the Gentile church, leaving John, Peter, James, 
and the other Apostles, to manage the concerns of the 
Jewish church ? He had been chosen and sent by Christ 
himself to preach the gospel to the Heathen, and in the 
course of his ministry among them, he was constantly 
vexed by the Judaising teachers, who sought to bring his 
converts under the yoke of the ritual law, while he was 
anxiously desirous that they should enjoy the liberty * 
wherewith Christ had made them free. The establish- 
ment of a separate Gentile church might have seemed to 
him the most effectual measure to destroy the influence 
of those teachers who so much annoyed him, as well as 



12 



disturbed and injured the converts under his ministry. 
And the difference between the Jews and the Gentiles in 
their national character, education, manners, habits, and 
other circumstances, might have presented an ample 
apology to human reason for a separation from the mother 
church. But Paul knew that the church was one by the 
constitution of Christ its head ; and that any division of 
it would have been utterly unlawful and inadmissible. 
He knew it would be presumptuous impiety in him to re- 
build the partition wall which Jesus Christ, by his death, 
had broken down ; and that he might not put asunder 
what his divine master had joined together. 

The same Apostle, as appears from his acts and his 
epistles, was deeply impressed with the value of the 
church's unity, and the calamities that would be conse- 
quent on its violation. His whole soul seems to have been 
burdened with the subject. With what earnestness does 
he caution the believers, to whom he addresses his epis- 
tles, against this principle of division ? He tells the Cor- 
inthians it had been declared to him that there were con- 
tentions among them, for that every one of them said, I 
am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephus, and I of 
Christ. He also tells them, " Ye are yet carnal ; for 
whereas there is among you envying and strife and di- 
visions, are ye not carnal ? For while one saith, I am of 
Paul, and another I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal ?" 
And again, " J beseech you, brethren, by the name of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and 
that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be per- 
fectly joined together in the same mind and in the same 
judgement." The Apostle does not assume to heal 
their dissentions by interposing his authority to settle the 
question which party was right, or wherein the other was 



13 * 

wrong; but he goes to the root of the evil, showing that 
the very fact of the disunion of Christians evinces the 
carnality, the unholy temper or habit of mind, into which 
they had suffered themselves to be betrayed. The Cor- 
inthians doubtless believed, as the different denomina- 
tions at this day believe in regard to themselves, that 
they had sufficient reason for separating from those who 
agreed not with them in their preferences ; but the Apos- 
tle does not deem it necessary for his argument to de- 
mand of them what was the difference between himself 
and Apollos and Cephas ; nor does he instruct them 
that they were disputing about trifles or minor differen- 
ces. He presses upon them the unity of the church, 
and the sin and absurdity of a division of it into distinct 
denominations arising from strife and disagreement. He 
does not admit one party to be less guilty than the other. 
The one that said 1 belong to Paul's persuasion, and he 
who said I believe with Apollos, and the third who en- 
listed himself among the admirers of Cephas, and even 
those, who, in the spirit and pride of sect and party, boas- 
ted of their superiority to the rest by claiming to belong 
to Christ, — all are alike reproved as either not under- 
standing, or in their unholy excitements for getting the 
relation in which they stood to each other as members 
of the same body of Christ, and " members one of anoth- 
er." He asks with abruptness and with great pertinen- 
cy and emphasis, " Is Christ divided 1" As if he had 
said, " If there may be two or more churches, either all 
but one must be without a head, or the head must be 
divided into as many fragments as there are churches, 
both Of which are equally impossible. " 

This vital principle was deeply engraven on the minds 
of the primitive Christians, no such thing being known 
2 



14 

as the separation of one body of believers from another 
on the ground of difference in matters of opinion, or on 
points of practice. The church continued one and un- 
divided through the age of the apostles, and after the 
death of the last surviving apostle, even to the middle 
of the third century. In that period the gospel had been 
propagated, and the church extended throughout the in- 
habited world, and yet no such thing as a distinct de- 
nomination of Christians was known. The church, says 
Milnor, " was not broken into handfuls of distinct sects 
and parties, all glorying in having something peculiarly 
excellent, and prone to despise their neighbours." See 
Milnor's church history, vol. I. 275, 276. And why 
during that long period of more than two hundred years, 
subsequent to the death of Christ, did the church remain 
unbroken ? Was it because men gave but little attention 
to religion 1 Never has it so much engrossed the minds 
of men as during that age of the world. Was it because 
the gospel had not spread to a great distance, so as 
to come in contact with the minds of men of various 
habits, under different degrees of intellectual culture, 
and living in different parts of the earth 1 It had spread 
from Jerusalem to the ends of the world, and the church 
embraced within her bosom Jews and Gentiles, philoso- 
phers, princes and peasants of every clime, combining 
all the elements necessary to the production of schism. 
Was it because the men at that period were all infallibly 
taught and guided by the Holy Spirit in the maintenance 
of the same opinions, and the pursuit of the same prac- 
tices ? Not so : scarcely had the preaching of the gos- 
pel commenced, before differences of sentiment and 
practice occurred between Christians. This is evident 
from the epistles of the apostles Paul, James, Peter, 



15 



John, and Jude. There were even damnable heresies 
broached in the church as well as minor differences, in 
the days of the apostles ; and in the long period from 
their day to the middle of the third century, the world 
was inhabited by an intellectual population, whom, it is 
impossible to believe, were unanimous in their religious 
opinions and practices. What then was it that kept 
Christians together in one church ? It was the strength 
of the principle which they believed — which they knew 
to be according to the constitution of God, that the 
church is one, and any division of it wholly inadmissi- 
ble ; and their faithful adherence to the directions of the 
scriptures that heretics must be cast out of the church, 
and that the principle of forbearance must be applied to 
differences, which are not of fundamental importance. 
Accordingly, we find that all who were believed to be the 
real disciples of Christ, having been born of his spirit, 
were received into the church, and heretics were reject- 
ed; and this line of distinction was found sufficiently 
precise. Milnor's church history, vol. I. 154. 

The adherence to these sound scriptural principles 
became, however, in process of time, weakened, as the 
bond of charity which held the body of believers togeth- 
er, was relaxed. The thing so much dreaded and so 
long resisted, at last happened. The church became 
divided. Ichabod was written upon its banner. Its glory 
had truly departed. The constitution of the church was 
violated, and as might have been expected, one disaster 
after another befel the church until the man of sin ob- 
tained the ascendency, and brought the dark ages upon 
the world. Long, very long was the earth enveloped in 
the gloom of night, even until the reformation from po- 
pery ushered in the light of morning. That morning was 



16 



bright. The reformed church remained one for many 
years, growing with the increase of God. Although mi- 
nor differences arose, they were not permitted to rend 
her asunder. But after the lapse of years, the spirit of 
controversy was suffered to prevail among the succes- 
sors of the reformers, and in the heat of their disputa- 
tions, they separated into different sects, according to 
their varying creeds. The parties, however, were very 
reluctant to commence the business of separation. Their 
consciences were ill at ease, knowing as they did the 
unscriptural character of any division of the church of 
Christ. The reformers themselves, when they withdrew 
from the Church of Rome, did not do it on the ground 
that it is lawful for Christians to separate from each oth- 
er. On the contrary, the only justification they avowed 
for leaving that church, was that she was not the church 
of Christ. They were agreed that the church is one, 
and that any division of that church is a breach of its 
unity. 

Having shown in what sense the unity of the church 
was understood by the apostles, by the primitive Chris- 
tians of the three first centuries, and by the reformers in 
the sixteenth century, we proceed to show that the con- 
stitution of the church admits of no other exposition. 
This constitution we have seen is coeval with the church 
itself; and in the intercessory prayer of the Saviour, it 
is recognised as applicable to the Christian church, em- 
bracing all, both Jews and Gentiles who then believed, 
or who should thereafter believe in his name ; and for 
them he prays that they all may be one even as he and 
the Father were one. That it is the duty of believers to 
be united in the sense here expressed, will not be deni- 
ed. The inquiry therefore is, what is the nature of that 



17 



union which Christ prays may subsist among his disci- 
ples ? It is plain that he cannot be understood to refer 
to that ineffable union which subsits between himself and 
the Father, as two of the persons in the Trinity, because, 
of this union his creatures are not capable ; but he must 
be understood as speaking of a union which may be pre- 
dicated of mankind ; and as praying for a union among 
his people in all those respects in which men can be 
bound together in the same sense that he and the Father 
are united. Men are capable of a union in feeling, in 
counsel, in action, and in name ; and if Jesus and his 
Father are in these respects one, his disciples, if there be 
any meaning in words, are bound to be, also, one in the 
same sense. For the Saviour says in the twenty sec- 
ond verse, " And the glory which thou gavest me I have 
given them ; that they may be one, even as we are owe." 
There cannot, then, be a doubt that he intended to pray 
for, and inculcate upon his disciples, a union of the 
same kind and nature in all respects, as that which sub- 
sists between him and his Father, with the single excep- 
tion above mentioned, arising from the subject matter. 

In what sense, then, were the Saviour and his Father 
one. Independently of their mysterious union above al- 
luded to, they were one in feeling, in counsel, in action, 
and in name. They are united together in the feeling of 
love one to another. So must his children be. But so 
they cannot be when divided into distinct denomina- 
tions ; for not only do such divisions spring from the 
want of that degree of mutual love and forbearance ne- 
cessary to hold them together in the bond of union, but 
they tend to weaken and destroy what of the principle of 
love may be remaining, and produce the contrary affec- 
2* 



18 



lions of opposition or indifference, alienation of heart and 
hatred. 

Jesus Christ and his Father are one in counsel, there 
being no discord or contrariety in their plans. So it 
ought to be with those who believe in the Saviour. They 
should speak the same thing and be perfectly joined to- 
gether in the same mind and in the same judgement. 1 
Cor. i. 10. But this cannot be predicated of believers 
belonging to opposing sects. Their counsels and their 
plans are not in unison ; and the very reason why they 
have separated is, that they could not hold counsel to- 
gether, because of their various views and feelings. 

The Father and his beloved Son are one in action. 
The works that Jesus seeth the Father do, these he do- 
eth also. John, v. 19. They always act in concert. So it 
ought to be with believers ; they should stand fast in 
one spirit, and in one mind, strive together for the faith 
of the gospel. Phil. ii. 2. But this cannot be asserted 
of Christians of different persuasions. They have array- 
ed themselves under different banners, manifesting that 
they are not willing to act together ; and in point of fact 
each acts independently of the other. They do not 
strive together for the faith of the gospel. The faith 
which is propagated by the one is denied and opposed by 
the other. What one builds, another destroys, for the 
plain reason that what promotes the prosperity of one, 
often tends to the injury and even destruction of the 
other. 

Our Saviour and his Father are one in name. There 
is indeed, a variety of names given to them in the 
Scriptures, expressive of the several perfections of their 
character, office, or appropriate work, not indicating op- 
position or contrariety, but the most perfect harmony. 



19 



So it should be with the members of Christ's church. 
One name ought to suffice for them all; and if more 
than one name be applied to them, these names should 
convey to the mind a harmonious and not a discordant 
sound ; as that of believers, Christians, disciples, saints, 
children of God, the faithful, the just, and the like ; all 
of which are in strict accordance with the characters and 
relation to Christ which they ought to exhibit. But how 
is it in point of fact? The very names by which Chris- 
tians of different denominations are known, which they 
themselves have assumed, and of which all sectarians 
are proud, are names of distinction, to show the line of 
division between one and the other. As the Corinthi- 
ans were some of the party of Paul, some of Apollos, 
and some of Cephas, so Christians now call themselves 
Calvinists, Lutherans, Armenians, Presbyterians, Con- 
gregationalists, Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists, 
Quakers, all indicating the absence, instead of subsis- 
tence of union between them. Should the apostle Paul 
now arise from the dead, and under a commission from 
his divine master, visit the churches of Christendom, 
what surprise would he not manifest at finding these dis- 
cordant names among the professed disciples of his 
Lord ! Would he not demand of us, as he did of the 
Corinthians in regard to their divisions, who is Calvin, 
other than a minister of Christ, that you call yourselves 
after his name, as though he were your master ? What 
is Luther, more than any servant of the Lord, that you 
should take his name upon you ? And who were Armin- 
ius and Wesley ? Were they more than servants of the 
Lord, as you all ought to be? Are each of these men 
entitled to the same honour with Christ himself, that 
God's own people should be named after them, even 
as the disciples were first called Christians at Anti- 



20 



och, to denote their subjection to himl Is Christ divi- 
ded 1 And how many Christ's have ye ? Into how many 
fractions have ye divided your blessed Saviour? and into 
how many more will you yet divide him, before your di- 
visions shall have an end ? Know ye not that the church 
constitutes but one body, of which Christ himself is the 
head, and of which you are all members'? Have ye not 
read in the Scriptures that there must be no divisions 
among you ? 

Were there room for any remaining doubt whether 
the division into sects is a violation of its constitutional 
unity, we might adduce further evidence, from a more 
particular consideration of the figures of speech, employ- 
ed by the Saviour and his apostles, to express the unity 
of the church. 

When our Lord represents himself as the vine, he re- 
presents his disciples as the branches. Hereby is expres- 
sed, not only an intimate union between himself as the 
vine and his disciples as the branches, but also, an inti- 
mate and inseparable union between the branches them- 
selves. While the branches remain attached to the vine, 
they draw their nourishment from it, and each branch 
communicates of its support to all the rest ; but by de- 
taching one of the branches, its union with the vine and 
the other branches is destroyed, and its nourishment 
from the parent stock, and the benefit it receives from 
the other branches must cease. How absurd would be 
the idea, that this detached branch should still claim to 
derive its nourishment from the parent stock, and to be 
yet united to the other branches ! Not less absurd is the 
idea, that a portion of the church, after it is detached from 
the rest by its formation into a distinct sect, should yet 
claim to be united to those from whom they are torn away. 



21 



Another figure employed to represent the unity of the 
church, as we have already had occasion to remark, is 
that of the human body composed of all its various mem- 
bers. There is an intimate union between all the parts 
of the body ; the severance of one of the members is the 
destruction of that member, and mutilates the body. 
Between all the members too, there is a mutual depen- 
dence ; one cannot say to the other, I have no need of 
thee ; and when one suffers, the others also suffer with 
it, as is beautifully and strongly illustrated in the first 
epistle to the Corinthians, already referred to. It would 
be most absurd for the foot or any other member to in- 
sist on a severance from the body, because of a lack of 
harmony between it and the other members ; and after 
its severance to claim that it still maintains its former 
union with the body. Equally absurd is it for any one 
or any number of believers to separate themselves from 
the church because of the want of union in feeling, 
mind, opinion, counsel or action between them and the 
other members of the church; and alike absurd is it that 
those who are thus separated should claim that they are, 
notwithstanding, still maintaining their union with those 
from whom they have been severed. 

Again, believers are called the family of God on 
earth. A well ordered family will be harmonious in 
their feelings, views, plans, and actions. So long a3 
it is the design of the institution, that a human family 
shall remain together, they will so remain, promoting 
each other's comfort and happiness, and qualifying the 
different members of it for the parts they are expected to 
act in life, after their retirement at the proper time, from 
the family circle. They do not separate for the reason 
that they cannot live together in peace and love. When- 



22 



ever a separation for this cause actually takes place, the 
design of the institution of families is subverted, the family 
loses its character, and is disgraced even in the eyes of 
the world. It was the design of God, clearly expressed 
in the Scriptures, that the church should always be one ; 
that all Christians in every place should worship, pray, 
render thanksgiving and praise together, except only 
where numbers and distance of place prevent ; that they 
should counsel and act together, for the salvation of sin- 
ners, for promoting the welfare of the whole family of 
believers, and qualifying each member for a place, which, 
after their removal from the family of the saints below, 
they hope to occupy in the family of God in heaven. 
There ought not to be a breaking up of the family of 
God's church for the reason that its members cannot 
harmonize together, and whenever such an event does 
in point of fact occur, the family is disgraced in the eye 
of God, forasmuch as they have subverted the constitu- 
tion which he has himself ordained for his church. 

Another expressive figure employed by the Holy Spi- 
rit in speaking of the church, is that of a sheepfold. 
Mark the expression, a sheep fold. Not an enclosure 
for dogs, wolves, or tigers, between whom it is necessa- 
ry to build walls of great strength and height to keep 
them from biting, tearing, and destroying one another ; 
but of harmless, peaceable sheep, that may safely be kept 
together in flocks, be they never so large, and which 
are divided into several folds, only for the purpose of sup- 
plying to them with more facility their food, and their 
other necessities and conveniences. And must it be 
confessed, that the sheep of Christ cannot live together 
in peace ? Do they embody so much of the nature of 
the ferocious brute, as that the only means of preventing 



23 



one from destroying another, is to keep them at a safe 
distance? Even thieves and robbers can live in bands 
of brotherhood in the same den, with nothing but the tie 
of interest and common danger to keep them together. 
But the children of Christ's kingdom cannot live in a 
state of union, although they are exposed to hosts of 
common enemies, and all have the same everlasting in- 
terests, and ought to be bound in the same bond of love, 
and all the holy ties of religion. What a libel on the 
character of Christianity ! What a perverted exhibition 
of its nature and influence ! 

THE BOND OF UNION. 

We have thus seen that God tolerates no divisions in 
his church, having constituted it one and indivisible. He 
well knew at the same time that the church was compo- 
sed and would be composed of fallible men, who needed 
every guard and help to keep them in the bond of unity, 
and preserve them from the danger of schism. He has, 
therefore, given abundant directions in his holy word, to 
provide against this danger, and which, had they been 
obeyed, in the measure in which men have ability to 
obey them, would have preserved the unity of the church. 

The great principle inculcated in the Scriptures for 
maintaining the unity of the church, is love. 

God himself is love. The union between the believer 
and his Lord, is a union of love and confidence ; and 
Christians are bound to live in love to each other in the 
unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. The last com- 
mand of the Saviour to his disciples was, that they 
should love one another. The apostle John declares 
the love of the brethren to be the great test of Christian 
character, and argues that it is wholly vain for a man to 



24 



pretend that he loves God, if he does not evince love for 
his brother. The exercise of love required among the 
members of God's family, is not merely an abstinence 
from hatred and hostility, but the exercise of affection, 
the feeling and manifestation of kindness, the desire of 
maintaining intercourse with each other ; nay, of being 
together, counselling and acting together, honouring their 
master and head together, suffering together, rejoicing 
together, rendering thanksgiving together, worshipping 
and praying together, and holding communion together 
at the Lord's table. 

The truth of all this will not be denied ; but how, it 
will be asked, is this principle of love to be maintained, 
while there is so much in the infirmities, not to say vi- 
cious propensities of men to impair and expel it ? 

We answer that the great secret for the preservation 
of love in the church and in every other community, is 
forbearance. Where this duty is not religiously observ- 
ed, love cannot long subsist among sinful mortals ; but 
where the duty is recognised, appreciated and performed, 
love and unity will be maintained, until the offending par- 
ty shall wholly forfeit his character as a member of the 
community, and not only authorize, but demand an ex- 
pulsion. 

The Scripture abounds in its requisitions of this duty 
of forbearance. The Lord Jesus Christ inculcates it, 
both by precept and example. He inculcates it by pre- 
cept, in commanding his disciples to practice the mutual 
forgiveness of injuries, not only once, but an indefinite 
number of times ; by diverting the attention of his fol- 
lowers more to the beam in their own eye, than to the 
mote in the eye of their brother ; by cautioning against 
the exercise of a rash and uncharitable judgement cf 



25 



others, by insisting on the duty of self denial, and in short, 
by the whole scope of his precepts and doctrines, relating 
to the intercourse of his disciples with each other. Oui 
blessed Lord practised this duty of forbearance, person- 
ally, in his own family of disciples. None can fail to 
admire his patience with his disciples, in the exhibition 
of their pride and ambition ; with their unreasonable re- 
quest that he would advance them to the best stations in 
the temporal kingdom they expected he was about to set 
up ; with their unbelief, so unaccountable to us, of his 
approaching death and resurrection, although plainly 
foretold by the prophets and expressly declared by him- 
self, and with their total ignorance of even the meaning 
of the resurrection from the dead. How remarkable 
was his forbearance with their desertion of him in the 
hour of his extreme distress ; with the denial of Peter, 
with the avarice of Judas, until his apostasy was mani- 
fest. And after all his experience of their unteachable- 
ness and imperfections, and with the knowledge of their 
approaching defection, how patiently and affectionately 
does he address them in the thirteenth and subsequent 
chapters of John's gospel, as though there had been no 
other concern in his bosom than to furnish them with 
matter of consolation, during the short period between 
his apprehension and his resurrection. All the time of 
his converse with the disciples, he indeed, faithfully re- 
proved them for their faults, and instructed them as they 
were able to bear it ; but he cherished them as members 
of his family, so long as they gave evidence of their love 
to God, and attachment to his cause. 

Nor is there a lack of harmony on this topic, between 
the Saviour and his apostles. In the fourth chapter of 
the epistle to the Ephesians, Paul exhorts the saints 
3 



26 



and the faithful, in all loveliness and meekness and long 
suffering, to forbear one another in love. The Colossian 
Christians he commends to put on bowels of mercies, 
kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long suffering, 
forbearing one another and forgiving one another, if any 
man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ also for- 
gave you. Col. iii. 12, 13. 

The duty of forbearance is in the Scriptures expressly 
enjoined in matters of opinion as well as matters of prac- 
tice. In the fourteenth chapter of the epistle to the 
Romans, Paul teaches as follows : " Him that is weak 
" in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. 
" For one believeth that he may eat all things, another 
" who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth 
" despise him that eateth not ; and let not him that eat- 
" eth not, despise him that eateth, for God hath received 
" him. Who art thou that judgest another man's ser- 
" vant ? To his own master he standeth or falleth ; yea 
" he shall be holden up, for God is able to make him 
" stand. One man esteemeth one day above another, 
" another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man 
" be fully persuaded in his own mind. For why dost 
" thou judge thy brother, or why hast thou set at nought 
" thy brother 1 For we shall all stand at the judgement 
"seat of Christ." 

Much as these texts are quoted and perverted by lat- 
itudinarians, they have notwithstanding, a meaning, and 
may not be stricken from the Bible. The application of 
them to our present point is very striking, when we con- 
sider that there were among the Christians at Rome, 
differences of opinion as to what food might or might not 
be lawfully eaten, and also, as to the observance of par- 
ticular days. It is easy to perceive that these differen- 



27 



ces of opinion would introduce different practices in dif- 
ferent congregations and in different families, as well as 
in different individuals of the same congregation and of 
the same family. What was eaten by the one, another 
condemned as unlawful ; and he who refused to observe 
a particular day, was deemed disobedient to God's law 
by him who did observe it. With the spirit of conten- 
tion these variances of judgement were calculated to 
break in upon brotherly love, and banish peace from 
every church and every family ; being not merely dis- 
agreements on theoretical points of doctrine, but on 
matters which must directly influence the practice of the 
parties more or less every day. Should differences of 
this character arise among Christians at the present 
time, would they forbear with each other ? No ; they 
would separate into distinct sects almost as soon as the 
difference should be discovered. Why? Because we 
have so long been accustomed to the false doctrine of 
the lawfulness of divisions in the church, that we would 
overlook or disregard the enjoined duty of forbearance. 
But with the spirit of meekness, Christian love and for- 
bearance, such differences may, in the opinion of the 
apostle (and he wrote by inspiration of God,) be endur- 
ed, and notwithstanding such differences, families may 
remain together, and the church undivided. These 
points of controversy are not, indeed, the same with 
those which now divide the church into sects. Our di- 
visions are upon rituals, upon government, and what are 
called questions of theology. But the law of forbearance 
extends to all matters of difference between Christians. 
No line of distinction is drawn in the Scriptures, nor 
does reason require or admit that there should be any. 
The ground of the duty, as stated by the apostle, is that 



28 



no man shall assume to be master of another. If I may 
not be the lord of your actions, by what process of rea- 
soning can it be shown that I may lord it over your «w- 
derstanding. If the church must forbear with the wrong 
conduct or practice of a member, conscientiously believ- 
ed by him to be in accordance with the Scriptures, why 
should she not bear with the wrong opinion of a member 
which he conscientiously judges to be drawn from the 
Bible? 

Let us not be understood as denying the right of indi- 
viduals or the church, to condemn opinions plainly con- 
trary to the Word of God and of fundamental impor- 
tance. On this point there is no dispute among Chris- 
tians. Our object is to exhibit the duty of forbearance, 
as taught in the Scriptures, and to prove that it is to be 
exercised in regard to matters of opinion, as well as to 
matters of practice and ritual observances. We are 
aware that much more importance is attributed to cor- 
rectness of theological opinions, than to correctness of 
moral behaviour. This is an error which has probably 
arisen from the prominence given to points of theology in 
the controversies which have been carried on between 
the various denominations of Christians. The idea is 
not countenanced in the Scriptures, nor is it supported 
by the principles of reason. It is highly important that 
Christians should form correct opinions, and that they 
should pursue a correct course of conduct. The argu- 
ment that opinions are most important because they in- 
fluence our practice, is not a solid one. While the fact 
that our opinions have more or less influence on our 
conduct is admitted, we deny the conclusion that opin- 
ions are therefore the most important. Our practice 
goes as far to form our principles, as our opinions go tQ 



29 



determine our practice. A man of corrupt principles 
will exhibit them in his practice, and a man of eorrupt 
behaviour will form corrupt opinions. No man can be 
too careful to form correct opinions for himself of what 
is taught in the Bible, and no man can be too careful to 
conform his own life to its requirements. We ought to 
love our neighbour sufficiently to desire that his opinions 
and conduct may be according to the standard of truth 
and holiness. We may not tolerate in ourselves any 
erroneous opinion or conduct. We must exercise for- 
bearance towards our brother in many an opinion and 
practice, which in our belief is erroneous. This is fully 
shown in the directions of the apostle Paul in the verses 
above quoted from the fourteenth chapter of Romans ; 
and his reasoning is as conclusive as his doctrine is 
plain ; namely, that one brother has no right to lord it 
over another. Nor has any number of brethren whether 
congregated in a church, or in whatever relation they 
stand, any more right to exercise dominion over one 
man's conscience in matters of opinion and practice. 
Numbers have more power than an individual, but the 
duty of forbearance is as incumbent upon a church as 
upon an individual. Nay, the command is expressly 
given by the apostle to the churches. 

We speak of the duty of forbearance, as it is to be ex- 
ercised towards Christians, members of the church. 
Those who err, may and ought to be instructed, admon- 
ished, exhorted, reproved, or warned according to the 
directions abundantly given in the Holy Scriptures ; but 
so long as they, in the judgement of charity, may be 
deemed Christians, there is no warrant to expel them 
from the church, unless it may be in those cases of error 
3* 



30 



which strike at its foundations. It is time that every 
error, whether of opinion or practice, may have a tenden- 
cy more or less direct or remote to weaken the church, 
and if countenanced, may in the end subvert it. Yet 
there is a wide difference between one error and another, 
as is evident from the Scriptures, and the dictates of 
reason. Every error is not alike injurious. There is 
none that may be countenanced ; there are many that 
must be tolerated, or the principles of forbearance must 
be abandoned. There are errors which are in their 
character fundamental, or essential, and there are those 
of minor importance. The dividing line between them 
it may, in some instances, not be very easy to trace with 
accuracy ; yet such a line of distinction actually does 
exist, and was doubtless more clearly seen in the prim- 
itive ages, when the church remained entire, than it now 
is ; and will again be as clearly discerned when the spi- 
rit of unity shall have taken up his abode in the church, 
and Christians shall have returned to the practice of love 
and forbearance. Even now, under the dominion of 
sect, there are many who are so far deliverd from its 
power, as that they would have little difficulty in prac- 
tice, to draw the line between errors that are essential, 
and those which are not essential ; and the facility of dis- 
covering in the Scriptures, the mind of the spirit on this 
subject, will increase, as the spirit of division shall die 
away. 



Although this chapter is here brought to a close, 
much remains to be said upon the proposition therein 
maintained, namely, that division into sects is a breach 



31 



of the constitutional union of the church. The argument 
is resumed under several of the subsequent heads, or 
rather, it is continued throughout the greater part of the 
work. 



32 



CHAPTER II. 



THE EVILS OP SECT. 



1. It banishes love and peace. 2. Cherishes pride. 3. Multiplies 
false professors of religion. 4. It keeps men from the proper reading 
of the Bible. 5. It perpetuates errors in doctrine, and prevents re- 
formation in practice. 6. It encourages and strengthens opposers of 
religion. 7. Retards the latter day of glory. 8. Weakens and des- 
troys the church, wasting its resources of money and men. — A 
house divided against itself cannot stand. — Reference to political 
parties, and to an army. — Testimony of ecclesiastical history. — 
Satan, in warring against the church, acts on the maxim "divide 
and conquer." 

It was to be expected that the violation of a principle 
which God has inculcated with so much anxiety, and 
guarded with so much pains as the unity of the church, 
would be followed with lamentable consequences, either 
as a punishment upon his part for the breach of his law 
and constitution, or as a necessary result of a departure 
from the order which he had established to preserve her 
peace, comfort, and prosperity. God knew the value of 
union among his followers in this wicked world, and 
the evils which would surely follow, if they should ever 



33 



be seduced into the snare of sectarian divisions. We 
will not attempt to make a perfect enumeration of the 
evils of sect, nor can we adequately expose their inju- 
rious and ruinous character ; but will endeavour to make 
such an exhibition as to vindicate the wisdom of God in 
ordaining that his church should be one and indivisible. 

Let it be understood that when we make use of the 
word sect, it is not designed as a name of reproach, 
nor as applicable to one denomination of Christians 
more than to another. We intend to apply the name 
indiscriminately to every division of the church into dis- 
tinct denominations. 

We now proceed to consider the evils which have 
resulted from sectarian divisions. 

1. It banishes peace and love, while it cherishes hatred 
and contention among Christians. 

Contention is the parent of division, and happy would 
it be for the Christian world, had the birth of the progeny 
been followed by the death of the progenitor, or even 
mitigated his fury, or weakened his arm. If, after a 
division had taken place, the disputants and their adhe- 
rents would be content with the victory always claimed 
on both sides, and enjoy the fruits of it in peace, with- 
out further disturbing the other party and the rest of the 
Christian world, we might hope to see an end to the 
contention. But such is not the result. Each party 
has its zeal inflamed instead of diminished by the 
schism that has rent the body asunder; and each is fully 
persuaded of the absolute necessity of vindicating the 
justice of its own side of the question. And thus is 
continued between them a war of words and feeling, in 
the conducting of which the parties are not very con- 
scientious in the choice of weapons, often preferring such 



34 



as inflict the most incurable wounds upon the opponent 
This increases the fury of the contest, and perpetuates it 
from generation to generation. How often has perse- 
cution to imprisonment, confiscation of property, ba- 
nishment, and even death, been the lot of one of the 
contending parties, while the other has exultingly raised 
the shout of triumph ! At this day indeed, at least in 
this land of freedom, the arm of civil power is no lon- 
ger put forth to crush religious opponents ; but most of 
the evils of contention are continued to the present time. 
The gentleness inculcated in the Scriptures is super- 
seded by the spirit of arrogance and rude rebuke ; can- 
dour by disingenuousness, and love by the indulgence 
of hatred. 

The animosities produced by divisions in the church 
are not healed by time. The same disputes which 
arose three centuries ago, between Luther and Calvin, 
with respect to the eucharist, are kept alive between 
their respective followers to the present time. The 
controversy between the Arminians and the adherents to 
the synod of Dort, is now carried on with the same 
zeal, if not with the same bitterness, as when the ori- 
ginal combatants were living; and each party is as posi- 
tive as they were then, of being in the right. The 
Baptist controversy is quite as stubborn at this day, as 
it was at the commencement; and the questions on 
church government so long controverted between the 
kirk of Scotland and the Seceders, and between the 
church of England and the dissenters, are as far from 
being settled as they were when the disputes first arose. 
Not only are the ancient divisions maintained, and the 
contests between them continued, but new schisms are 
occurring. Most, if not all the great denominations, are 



35 



involved in controversies among themselves, carried on 
with more or less of bitterness and intolerance ; some 
of them have recently been actually torn apart, and 
others are threatened with the same calamity. The 
work of contention and separation is still in progress ; 
and when or how it will terminate, must be left to the 
disposer of all events to disclose, or the event to de- 
clare. We see not why it will not continue until every 
man will be obliged to build his own church and main- 
tain his own priest, unless the friends of Christ shall 
open their eyes to see the unscriptural and destructive 
character of all divisions, and with repentance for past 
errors, seek to return into one fold under one shepherd, 
according to the original constitution of the church of 
God. 

Hereby shall all men know, says the Saviour, that 
ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. 
Alas ! how has this mark of Christian character been 
blotted out ! By the divisions among Christians conti- 
nued and multiplied, the love of the brethren, inculcated 
with so much solicitude by Christ and his apostles, is 
well nigh become a stranger and an exile from the earth. 
The peace of civil society is broken by the discord and 
contests which prevail among the disciples of Jesus, the 
Prince of Peace. Every neighbourhood is infected with 
the spirit of contention which is raging, and the unholy 
passions which excite and are excited by it. Neigh- 
bours, with averted eyes, meet each other, moving in 
opposite directions to and from different places of wor- 
ship. In social visits, religion may not be the theme of 
conversation among Christians, lest the peace of the 
company be broken by the expression of sentiments at 
variance with the sectarian principles of some one or 



36 



more of their number. Even the family, in which if 
any where, religion might expect to have a welcome and 
a resting place, is divided against itself. The wife can- 
not sit at the same communion table with her husband, 
nor go to the same place of worship. The children who 
have become members of the church, have perhaps at- 
tached themselves to denominations distinct from each 
other and from those of their parents, and not any two 
of the family can consistently attend the same sanctuary. 
The base mention of a religious subject would be the 
signal for hostilities, and therefore all pious conversation 
must be excluded, as the only means of avoiding a 
breach of the peace- Family instruction is neglected, 
because the faith of the father cannot be endured by the 
rest of the household ; and family worship is dispensed 
with, because it cannot be performed with union of feel- 
ing. And thus a Christian family which ought to be the 
abode of peace, love, and unity, is converted by the 
power of sect into a habitation of discord, alienation of 
heart, confusion and irreligion. 

The world are witnesses of this want of love among 
Christians. Nay, they see that the contrary principle 
of enmity is predominant. Where is the wonder that 
sinners are hardened and fortified in their impenitence 
and unbelief? 

2. It cherishes the spirit of pride and self-preference. 

There is perhaps no denomination but which, itself 
being judge, has its faith the most pure, its standards 
the most excellent, its discipline the most perfect, its 
government the most scriptural, or its people the most 
pious. The lovers of sect are fond of comparisons, 
and are sure to place themselves above all others in the 
knowledge or practice of the truth, glorying more in 



37 



being Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Baptists,Methodists, 
Quakers, Burghers or Covenanters, that in the grand 
truths and principles of the gospel, in which Christians 
generally are agreed. In the proportion that they prefer 
their own sect to every others, they of course ascribe the 
more wisdom and goodness to themselves for having 
discovered the superiority of that denomination with 
which they have chosen to unite. This is the spirit of 
pride and self-preference which the apostle reprobated 
in the Corinthians who boasted " I am of Paul," and 
" I am of Apollos." There is no difficulty in discover- 
ing this spirit and perceiving its unbecoming character 
in those who belong to a different party from our own ; 
but who will acknowledge that the same principle is 
eating out the vitals of his own piety, and is rendering 
himself as much the subject of odium and pity to others, 
as they are to him 1 

3. It fills the church with unworthy members. 

Such is the eagerness of contending sects to secure 
additions to their numbers, that a man can scarcely ex- 
hibit a sober countenance before he is noticed and mar- 
ked out as a subject of speedy enlistment into the ranks 
of the opposing armies. He is invited and caressed 
from various quarters in such a manner as to afford 
grounds of fear to a more experienced observer that the 
parties are quite as anxious to bring the awakened sinner 
into their church, as to lead him to the Saviour. His 
doubts whether he be as yet a Christian are soon re- 
moved by the attentions he receives, and by the officious 
and hasty advice which is given him. The zealous of 
each sect beset him with their arguments and persua- 
sions, and he is soon made acquainted with the errors 
of every sect, while probably he hears little of the 

4 



38 



truths of any. He believes he ought to make a public 
profession of his faith ; and at the commencement of 
his course, he is compelled by the urgency of his as- 
sailants to enter upon a task to which he is wholly in- 
competent — namely, to decide upon the comparative 
merits of the various denominations whose claims may 
have been presented to him. He is constrained to de- 
cide in a short time upon questions of great depth and 
intricacy which require the labour of years and maturity 
of Christian experience to comprehend and determine. 
And after he has, in his own apprehension, solved every 
difficulty, while he may have become very learned in 
questions of rituals, church government, and the 
doctrines which are controverted among Christians, 
perhaps he knows very little of the Bible as a whole, or 
of those great and essential truths in which the great 
body of believers are agreed. He may, by this pro- 
cess, become very expert in the peculiarities of his own 
sect, while he has made little or no progress in the 
knowledge of Christ, the cultivation of a proper temper, 
or the formation of a Christian character. Such of our 
readers as have had opportunities of witnessing the 
movements of religious partisans, cannot have failed to 
observe that multitudes are hurried into a profession of 
religion or into a state of trial in a particular church, lest 
they might be caught in the trap of some other denomi- 
nation. 

How many false and unworthy members are thus 
electioneered into the church, is known to God alone. 
No doubt there are many. And could she afterwards 
be purified from this mass of unwholesome materials, 
the evil would be comparatively trifling in its character. 
Where there is only one denomination, this process is 



39 



to a great degree very free from danger. But where 
there is more than one, how often is the exercise of dis- 
cipline wholly neglected through the fear that it will 
give umbrage to the offender, and drive him to add the 
weight of his name, property or influence to another 
denomination ! And thus the misconduct of many re- 
mains unreproved, and the whole body becomes cor- 
rupted by the unchristian practices of its members, 
winked at by the church. 

Besides, it is a common occurrence for a church 
member to change the place of his residence. If he 
does not find in the place to which he removes a church 
of his own sect, however well it may be supplied with 
those of another name, his sectarian feelings do not 
permit him to put himself under the watchful care of any 
of these, and he lives as a sheep without a shepherd. 
His sectarian prejudices, moreover, may prevent him 
from feeling the obligation to attend a place of public 
worship where there is none of his own persuasion ; and 
he may even be deterred from it by the fear (laudable 
among sectarians) of being seduced from the purity of 
the faith and practice of his own church, and thus live 
a heathen in the midst of a Christian community. 

By all these different means unworthy professors of 
religion are greatly multiplied, causing such an amalga- 
mation of the church with the world, as to render it 
impossible to distinguish between the wheat and the 
chaff. The church is groaning, being sorely burdened 
under the oppressive load. 

4. It disqualifies men for the proper reading of the 
Scriptures. 

The injuries suffered by individual church members 
from the causes mentioned under the last head, might 



40 



be alleviated and in time removed, had they been taught 
and influenced to search the Scriptures, and place upon 
them their principal reliance for instruction and gui- 
dance. The word of the Lord is the bread of life to 
every Christian soul, and all the other means of grace 
have their principal use in exciting the believer to read 
the Bible aright. The manner in which it is to be read 
and studied is indeed sufficiently indicated in the Bible 
itself; but such is man's unteachableness and reluc- 
tance to obey, that he needs the living minister to 
exhort, admonish, explain the truth, and to enforce it 
upon the heart and conscience. He needs also other 
means, and the Scriptures when constantly and prayer- 
fully read, will lead him to seek those helps, not only 
as the appointed means of his own improvement, but 
as the appointed mode of pleasing God. 

The church of Rome withholds the Bible from the 
laity; and their clergy, for the most part, deny the use 
of it to themselves. It is the glory of the protestant 
church that she makes it the duty of every one, ministers 
and people, to search the Scriptures ; and it is the glory 
of the present age that protestant Christians have resol- 
ved to furnish the sacred volume to every family in the 
world. But although we have the Bible and esteem it 
of great price, it by no means follows that we derive 
from it all the benefit which the proper use of it would 
insure. 

The truth is far otherwise. It is the evident design 
of its author that the Bible should be read daily, to fur- 
nish the food of which the soul of the Christian stands 
in continual need ; that it should be read again and 
again, not only that it may be understood and remem- 
bered, but that by the frequent and constant perusal of 



41 



its pages, men may expose themselves to the fulness of 
its moral influence ; that it should be the subject of our 
meditations by day and by night ; and that it should be 
studied with prayer to God for his enlightening and 
sanctifying influence. It is moreover the plain will of 
God that the whole of the Bible should thus be read, 
since all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is 
profitable ; and that each part should receive that degree 
of attention which its intrinsic importance demands, 
and that particular portions of the sacred volume should 
not so engross our attention as to prevent us from setting 
a due value on the other portions of the same word of 
truth. 

This obvious and profitable use of the Holy Scriptures 
has been subverted by the operation of sectarian prin- 
ciples. An undue prominence has been given to those 
points of doctrine on which believers are at variance, 
while the mass of valuable instructions contained in the 
Bible, and which are not the subjects of controversy 
among Christians, are cast into the shade, possessing 
comparatively little interest in the estimation of the 
sectarian reader. This false taste and injurious habit 
is in great measure cherished, if not formed, by the 
polemical character of the preaching in the divided pro- 
testant church. From many pulpits you may hear more 
sermons on controverted subjects, than on all others 
taken together ; and the love of controversy being na- 
tural to the hearts of fallen man, this description of 
sermons is very grateful to the great majority of hear- 
ers. Indeed many Christians will not be satisfied with 
any but doctrinal sermons ; and they would scarcely 
recognise those as doctrinal, which are not controver- 
sial. While their minister is demonstrating the errors 
4* 



42 



of those who differ from the standards of his church, 
and his hearers are wondering at the blindness and per- 
verseness of their opponents, they forget that in a 
neighbouring church followers of the same Saviour, but 
hearers of another preacher, are at the same moment 
indulging in pious wonder at the dulness of their under- 
standings. How can it be expected that Christians 
under this species of training will read the word of God 
"without partiality. 5 ? The truth is that by many the 
Bible is read more with the view to defend the tenets of 
their own sect, and refute those of their antagonists, 
than simply to inquire what is the will of the Lord re- 
vealed to the reader. How much is the fact to be 
deplored that the Holy Bible designed by its wise author 
to light every step in the path of the Christian through 
this evil world, should be so perverted as to lead the 
reader into the darkness of unprofitable controversy with 
his fellow pilgrims ; and that the book of God designed 
to teach and inculcate the love of peace and unity, 
should be perused in such a spirit as to supply to the 
reader aliment for contention and breach of charity. 

Were Christians taught and induced to read the 
Scriptures daily, to read the entire Scriptures, with 
humble prayer for light from above, they would not fail 
to exhibit a more consistent Christian character. For 
their minds would then come into frequent contact with 
every part of God's word, and in due season would they 
receive the portion they need. Every blemish, every 
fault, every unholy feeling and practice would receive 
its seasonable reproof from God himself, speaking in his 
word. Every duty would be held up to the view of the 
Christian, with the arguments and motives for its per- 
formance. God's character and his own would be con- 



43 



stantly presented to his consideration, and the claims 
which his fellow Christians have upon his forbearance 
and his love could not be forgotten and neglected. But 
the impartial reading and study of the Bible can never 
be expected to be pursued by Christians, so long as 
they are taught to attach so much comparative impor- 
tance to subjects of controversy. These will continue 
to engross their minds and affections, while the " weigh- 
tier matters " of the Bible will be either hastily read, or 
entirely passed over as dry and uninteresting. 

It is so in politics. A single topic, however unim- 
portant in itself, will, when made the subject of dispute 
between the political partisans of the nation, assume 
more importance in the eyes of the community, and 
receive more of the attention than all the other concerns 
of the country about which there is no existing contro- 
versy. 

5. It frustrates every effort to reform ivhat is wrong 
in the church. 

In the first place, the division of the church into dis- 
tinct sects perpetuates errors in doctrine. Though 
none of the sects may be unwilling to acknowledge that 
in their own creed or confession of faith there is a single 
error, they will readily admit that errors abound among 
Christians of other denominations. What but differen- 
ces of opinion among Christians have divided the 
church ? One or more points of doctrine affirmed on 
one side, and denied on the other, has given rise to the 
various sects which have rent the church in pieces ; and 
nothing can be clearer than that one of the parties are 
supporting error, where their sentiments are in direct 
opposition to each other. We do not maintain that if 
there were an amalgamation of all sects, there would be 



44 



no errors broached in the church ; but we do hold and 
are confident that the surest way to perpetuate any error, 
is to encourage or drive one of the disagreeing parties 
to form itself into a separate denomination. If the party 
seceding be wrong, the error will be adhered to as long 
as the sect shall subsist; and if the party seceded from 
be wrong, the error will be persevered in until the de- 
nomination shall become extinct; because in either 
case the point of difference will introduce a new article 
into their respective creeds, and of that article they will 
be as tenacious as every Christian ought to be of the 
Bible itself. This assertion is fully verified by history. 

How are the errors which are now incorporated into 
the creeds, confessions or systems of different denomi- 
nations, ever to be purged from the church in its pre- 
sent state of division? Who is to commence the 
work ? Who dares to undertake the task of pointing 
out the errors of his own denomination 1 If such a man 
could be found, he would instantly be denounced and 
silenced as the enemy of his church, or ja traitor to his 
party. He could not expect and would not meet with a 
kinder reception than Jesus Christ himself received 
from the Jewish church, when he exposed their depart- 
ure from the truth of God, as declared in the Scrip- 
tures. If the error may not be exposed by a member of 
the same denomination, how can it be supposed that 
any interference will be listened to when coming from 
one of another sect? All history and observation 
proves that no church has ever yielded to the force of 
arguments, however strong, coming from an opponent. 

When, however, the church shall be again united, one 
of the greatest obstacles to the discovery and acknowl- 
edgement of error will be removed, and as there will then 



45 



be no opposing sects to keep alive party pride, passion 
and prejudice, such as may be honestly desirous of 
knowing the truth, may with perfect safety, without the 
danger of persecution or reproach, yield themselves 
unreservedly to the teaching of the Holy Spirit through 
his own word. They will avail themselves of the his- 
tory of the past, and the discussions that have already 
been had of perhaps every point of doctrine contained 
in the Bible ; and as there will then be no longer any 
sense of disgrace in the acknowledgement that we know 
nothing as we ought to know, men will readily renounce 
their past opinions, when the force of sound argument 
shall prove them to have been unscriptural. And then 
it will be seen and admitted that truth and error have 
been mingled in the creed of every sect, and the watch- 
men on the walls of Zion will begin to see eye to eye. 

As the division of the church into opposing sects 
forbids the hope of eradicating any error of doctrine that 
finds a place in the creed of any denomination, so it is 
the capital engine of Satan, the arch enemy, to pre- 
vent any reformation of practice. The protestant church 
in its infant and undivided state, entered with a noble 
spirit upon the work of reformation, diffusing in a short 
period of time, much of the light and holy influence of 
true Christianity. She unhappily became afterwards the 
theatre of theological controversy, which, owning to 
the bad spirit in which their disputes were conducted, 
resulted more in the excitement of unholy passions, 
than in producing conviction of the truth, or the preva- 
lence of Christian feeling. The consequence was a 
separation of the contending parties, and the formation 
of distinct churches, each claiming to be the true 
church of Christ. A division once commenced, it was 



46 



comparatively easy to produce subdivisions, until in 
process of time, it was almost a matter of course for a 
difference of opinion to produce a new denomination. 
And these unholy divisions have ever since been multi- 
plying, so that every age has furnished the addition of 
many names in the dictionary of religious sect. Amidst 
the strife which these controversies and schisms have 
kept alive, it was to be expected that each sect would 
find ample employment for all the means in their power 
to sustain their own existence. And such has been the 
fact. They could scarcely have found time, and they 
have evinced little inclination to reform abuses in the 
church, or to bring the world under the influence of the 
gospel. To prove this assertion, we will adduce one 
or two examples. 

The slave trade, now so justly abhorred by all en- 
lightened men, could not have become the legalized 
business of protestant Christians, and been openly and 
shamelessly pursued by them for the space of two cen- 
turies, had the church been bound together in the bond 
of Christian love and unity. The early leaders of the 
Society of Friends protested against the traffic, and 
boldly proclaimed it to be contrary to the principles of 
the gospel, and a gross violation of Christian duty ; but 
the practical belief of the doctrine was diffused only 
through the limits of that denomination. By the rest it 
was unheeded or treated with indifference, as the tenet 
of a sect, instead of being received as a Christian prin- 
ciple, which ought to be felt and acted upon by every 
member of the church of Christ. So likewise the 
practice of drinking distilled liquors was seen, by the 
primitive Quakers and by John Wesley in his time, to 
be dangerous, injurious and unchristian ; but the truth 



47 



of this sentiment was heeded only by the Quakers and 
the Methodists, while the members of other religious 
denominations have made, sold and consumed the poi- 
sons of the still as freely and openly as if they had been 
the waters of life. Had the church been united in one 
body of Christian brethren, the light which was confined 
within the narrow bounds of two Christian sects, w T ould, 
like the candle of the Lord, have shone upon the whole 
of the protestant church, and ere this, upon the rest of 
the world. 

The principles of the reformation from popery would 
long since have effected the spread of the gospel through 
the whole earth, had they not been checked in their 
operation, for they were the principles of the Bible, 
which commands the disciples of Christ to preach the 
gospel to every creature. But alas ! the church has 
found other employment. The spirit of discord having 
broken out among her children, the powers of the 
church have been wasted in controversies and persecu- 
tions, instead of being employed in evangelizing the 
world. The Moravian brethren, it is true, have done 
something towards the propagation of Christianity 
abroad, for more than a century past ; but the other deno- 
minations seem scarcely to have been apprized of their 
operations ; or if they were, they were not moved to 
follow the good example. It was the example only of a 
sect, and the force of it was lost upon the others, and 
they kept aloof from the holy work with as much indiffe- 
rence as though the " Brethren " had been engaged in 
an enterprise which concerned only themselves. There 
is not and there cannot be the feeling of a common in- 
terest between different sects. It is of the nature of 
division to destroy the community of feeling. What 



48 



one sect is doing, unless it be to aggrandize itself at 
the expense of the others, seems to attract little atten- 
tion ; so that a reformation in any particular, remains 
confined to the denomination in which it originates, and 
the others remain as unconcerned in relation to it, as 
they would be respecting the movements among them- 
selves of any of the different castes in India. 

The cause of benevolence has, it is true, of late 
excited something like a general interest in some of the 
churches, notwithstanding existing divisions, and has 
made some progress in spite of the dominion of sect. It 
had reposed in the slumber of ages, until a principle has 
recently manifested itself, which, if not resisted, will 
eventuate in the reunion of the church of Christ. It is 
in fact the principle of union itself, drawing together 
the warm hearts of divers denominations, who forgetting 
minor subjects of difference, unite in a combined effort 
to ameliorate the condition of man and to advance the 
interests of Christ's kingdom. The same principle has 
originated foreign missions, as well as domestic mis- 
sions, the Bible Society, the Sabbath School Union, the 
Prison Discipline and Seaman's Friend Society, the 
Tract and Education Societies. The spirit which had 
started into life these noble institutions, emphatically the 
glory of the present age, will, if left to its own operation, 
sustain them, and bear them on to a happy consumma- 
tion ; but it is well known to those who are conversant 
with the concerns of these benevolent enterprises, that 
the power of sect, however it may in some instances be 
disguised, is already set in array against them ; and 
unless that power of sect shall be broken, or its charac- 
ter essentially changed, the opposition maintained by 
it against the cause of reform, will be protracted and 
severe. 



49 



The resistance so strongly manifested to the progress 
of moral improvement, has, by a vigorous writer of the 
day, been aptly personified under the name of " the ge- 
nius of the existing order of things." This evil genius 
is every where employed with watchful care, exerting 
his utmost power and skill to keep the world in its pre- 
sent condition of wretchedness, guarding the "celestial 
empire " against the invasion of Christianity, fortifying 
the Musselman in the faith of the prophet and his koran. 
He is the privy counsellor of the despots and tyrants of 
the earth, instructing them to shut out from their vassals 
the light of knowledge, and to quench the flame of li- 
berty. He stands at the church door of every sect, cry- 
ing danger ! at the suggestion of any improvement or 
reformation, lest they may lose their distinctive peculiari- 
ties, and fail of showing the same features which they 
have exhibited for ages past. Dreading the spirit of 
reformation, which seems to be partially kindling in the 
protestant world, the malignant genius is constantly 
vociferating, " Let things remain as they are, lest they 
become worse." The sentiment is re-echoed by every 
sect, and the man who dares to propose any alteration 
in the doctrine, government, discipline, or practice of 
his own denomination, does it at the peril of being 
charged with disaffection to his own church. This ac- 
counts for the fact which will be readily admitted by all, 
that a man, whether preacher, ruler, or private member, 
cannot be a favourite in his own sect, unless he be tho- 
rough-going in defending every one of its tenets, rites, 
ceremonies, and regulations, and in opposing every at- 
tempt to change the existing order of things. A man of 
liberal principles may be popular in other denominations, 
where he has little or no power of doing good ; but he 
5 



50 



is sure to be very unpopular in his own connexion, 
where he might exert a beneficial influence, were not 
his attempts at improvement resisted and baffled by the 
power of sectarian bigotry, pride, and prejudice. 

6. It gives courage and strength to opposers. 

The enemies to true religion are close observers of 
the movements of the church, and especially do they 
notice its divisions. The history of sects, not only the 
more public, but even the secret movements of the con- 
tending parties are subject to the cognizance of their keen 
penetration ; and where is the wonder that they should 
discover much to the reproach of Christians, as well as 
to the confirmation of their own unbelief and hatred of 
religion 1 The various differences and contentions 
among the advocates of Christianity, their divisions into 
sects almost innumerable, with the rage of party strife 
between them, and even their persecutions of each other, 
come most powerfully to the aid of the depraved heart, 
in rejecting the holy truths of the Bible, which they do 
not relish, and which they are conscious they do not 
obey. If Christianity were exhibited in its native light 
by those who believe it, it would go far towards con- 
quering the power of the infidel to disbelieve ; while now 
as the exhibition of the Christian character appears to his 
eye, instead of removing, it corroborates his infidelity. 

Were it not for the deplorable divisions among Christ- 
ians, the fatal heresies which from time to time are 
broached, would receive no countenance in the world. 
The heretic would find no place where to set his foot in 
the church ; for he would be cut off as a rotten member, 
and there would be no sect to receive him. The harmo- 
nious worship, faith, and Christian practice of the united 
church would keep the wolves out of the sheepfold, and 



51 



they would then have to wander alone in the wilderness; 
or if they should attempt to collect a few followers, and 
assume the name of a church, the deception would, in 
most instances, be too apparent to deceive even the 
unwary. But now, amidst the multitude of denomi- 
nations, all claiming to be the fold of Christ, and at least 
some of them exhibiting a character very different from 
that of peaceable and harmless sheep, is it matter of won- 
der that the Unitarian, the Universalist, the Roman Ca- 
tholic, and the Mormonite, should confidently claim to 
be Christian churches, and be enabled, under the guise 
of religion, to do the work of their Master to more effect 
than could be done by their open opposition 1 

These enemies of religion would not be able to sus- 
tain their courage, did they see the friends of Christ 
acting in unison to extend the interests of his kingdom. 
All their efforts would be confined to deeds of darkness, 
as they would fail to find a place of safety in the light of 
day ; and should they presume to present an open front 
of opposition, the moral power of the united church 
would speedily subdue them. 

7. It retards the latter day of glory. 

The sooner the church is reunited, the sooner may 
we expect the commencement of that happy period to 
which the friends of Christ are looking with joyful anti- 
cipations, when all shall know the Lord, from the great- 
est to the least; when righteousness and peace shall 
every where abound, and the Saviour's reign be esta- 
blished upon the earth. The victory over Satan might 
long since have been won, had not the soldiers of the 
cross made war upon each other, instead of uniting in a 
vigorous and persevering warfare against the common 
enemy. 



52 



The spirit of sect is at variance with the progress of 
holiness. Piety will not grow in the midst of envy, pre- 
judice, party pride, hatred, strife and contention, nar- 
row mindedness, bigotry, opposition to the progress of 
truth and reformation, under whose influence the light 
of Christianity is hidden under a bushel, and the salt has 
lost its savour. The degree of Christian perfection 
which the Scriptures teach us to be attainable, will not 
be exhibited by believers under all the demoralizing in- 
fluences of sect ; and in consequence, there will not be 
that exhibition of Christian character, which must ulti- 
mately be the great means under the guidance of the 
Spirit of the Lord, to convert a world lying in wicked- 
ness. 

Independently of these considerations, there is a ten- 
dency in the prevalence of sectarian divisions, to cripple 
ail the other means for evangelizing the world, and 
bringing nominal Christians more fully under the in- 
fluence of the gospel. The sectarian cannot admit the 
thought that the happy day of the church will arrive until 
the world is prepared to receive the doctrines, govern- 
ment, and rites of his own church. He is therefore 
reluctant, yea, and opposed to aid those general asso- 
ciations of Christians whose object is to extend the king- 
dom of Christ without regard to sect. To send the 
gospel to the heathen he may admit to be the duty of 
every Christian, but he has no heart to aid the board of 
foreign missions, unless he can be assured that they will 
propagate his own creed among the heathen. He can- 
not open his purse to the home missionary society, be- 
cause he has no security that they will employ mis- 
sionaries of his own party. He will not support the 
Sabbath School Union, because its conductors will not 



53 



promise to have his own catechism taught to the child- 
ren ; nor can he contribute to the funds of the American 
Education Society, because they may bring some men 
into the ministry who will not advance the interests of 
his own sect. The cause of seamen and prisons has no 
charms for him, not having any peculiar tendency to 
strengthen his own denomination. We are sorry to add 
that judging from the actions of multitudes of sectarians, 
there is reason to fear they would rather see the present 
state of things in the world continued, than to have the 
kingdom of Christ extended by associations of Christians 
who do not enter into their peculiar views and partiali- 
ties. When can the world become evangelized under 
the prevalence of this narrow minded policy 1 Each 
sect is withholding its aid, until itself shall have ac- 
quired the power to accomplish the great work of con- 
verting the world. But none of them will ever possess 
this power. The only hope of effecting this great and 
glorious work, is the decline and ultimate fall of the 
empire of sect. It requires the united hearts, hands, 
purses, and prayers of protestant Christians to evan- 
gelize the heathen, convert the Jew to the faith of 
Christ, to purge the Greek and Latin churches from 
their corruptions, to bring sinners at home to repent- 
ance, and bring Christians under the full influence of 
the gospel. 

The work to be done is great, almost beyond com- 
prehension. The opposition and difficulties in the way 
are numerous and appalling. Were every Christian in 
the world employed in accomplishing it, yet how ar- 
duous would be the work, and how much time must it 
consume, what calamities must first be endured by the 
church, and what millions drop into the everlasting 
5* 



54 

abodes of the damned ! How exceedingly lamentable? 
then, that those who are to perform the work, should 
voluntarily or ignorantly diminish the amount and effi- 
ciency of their resources, by jealousies, feuds, and di- 
visions ! 

But upon the supposition that notwithstanding the re- 
tarding influence of sect, the cause of foreign missions 
should progress, and that the missionary establishments 
of the different denominations should extend the bounds 
of their present stations, until they shall come in conti- 
guity to each other, what will be the result? Will each 
occupy his ground in peace, and assign territorial limits 
to the location of Episcopacy, Methodism, Baptism, Pres- 
byterianism, and Congregationalism'? Or will the par- 
ties, as they come into contact, act over again the same 
scene of contention, persecution, and malevolence, in 
every form which has been acted in Europe and the 
United States ? Or rather, instead of deferring the com- 
mencement of hostilities until the bounds of their mis- 
sionary stations shall meet, will not the spirit of prose- 
lytism goad on the different sects to establish missions 
in places already occupied by others, and so commence 
the war of sect without much longer delay ? 

In any event, how long can it be, before christianized 
heathens will hear of our divisions and strifes'? And 
what will be the effect of this information upon the con- 
verts ? What upon the unconverted? What will be the 
feelings of our missionaries, when their disciples inquire 
of them the meaning of our fierce disputings and 
schisms ? It may, upon the whole, be a happy provi- 
dence for the heathen that they know so little of the 
church in Christian lands. Should the spirit of brotherly 
love now descend upon us, and reunite the church, the 



55 

converts among the heathen, when they learn the his- 
tory of Christian sects, would hear it as the record of a 
period past, and of an evil removed, and from which 
the church had learned the curse of division and the 
blessings of union ; and they might escape the snare 
into which we have fallen. But let them become ac- 
quainted with the controversies in the church from 
which they received the gospel, while these are actually 
agitating and distracting us, what can be expected but 
that the war of sect will at once break out among them % 
And who can calculate how long and to what degree 
they will be doomed to experience its bitterness, and 
how many centuries the latter day of glory may be re- 
tarded 1 May the Lord in his mercy deliver the hea- 
then from the evils of division. May they know 
Christianity only in its benign, peaceful, sanctifying, 
and all its heavenly influences. 

8. 1/ weakens and tends to destroy the church. 

This operation and tendency is manifest in many 
ways. The divisions of the church are toasting its re- 
sources, both of money and men. 

Almost every denomination feels the necessity of 
having its theological school, although perhaps not more 
than a dozen of students are found in it at the same time, 
and this school must have its library, and as many profes- 
sors as one that instructs two hundred students. Some 
deemit quite importantto have also their sectarian college, 
and even their sectarian academy, to educate their youth, 
with the view to transfer them afterwards to their own 
theological seminary. To sustain these institutions, 
there must be agents and a complicated and expensive 
machinery for obtaining the funds necessary to defray 
the original cost and the continual expenditures. Each 



56 

denomination thinks it also quite essential to have also 
its newspaper, magazine, and books, to diffuse intelli- 
gence of its operations, and to defend and promote the 
peculiarities of its faith and practice. Several of these 
theological seminaries, colleges, and academies, news- 
papers and magazines, might be united in one, without 
the loss of any real advantage, and to the saving of an 
immense waste of money, and of the precious time of a 
host of instructers and editors. 

Every denomination must also be at the expense of 
having its preacher, and of building, repairing, and 
furnishing its church, and perhaps a lecture room be- 
sides ; so that it is not uncommon in compact settlements, 
to have four or five places of worship, with as many 
preachers of the gospel, to accommodate four or five 
hundred hearers, who might all, with much profit in every 
point of view, meet at one place, and enjoy the ministry 
of one man. On the other hand, in sparse and poor 
settlements, it is in many instances impossible to sup- 
port public worship, for the sole reason that a sufficient 
number of Christians of the same denomination cannot 
be found to defray the expense ; and consequently the 
population in such places rapidly become heathens in a 
Christian land; while if those among them who value 
the gospel, would only disregard the petty distinctions 
which keep them apart, they might enjoy all the privi- 
leges of the Christian religion, and be bringing up 
Christian, instead of heathen families. 

We do not complain that too much money is expended 
for the support of the gospel. The people of this coun- 
try have ample means, even under the wasteful expen- 
diture induced by our sectarian divisions, to sustain the 
institutions of religion at home, including the supply of 



57 



the destitute in our new settlemens or elsewhere ; but 
it grieves us to reflect that so much is wasted when the 
whole is needed. For all the money which the people 
are willing or can be persuaded to cast into the treasury 
of the Lord, there is urgent need to print and distribute 
Bibles and tracts, to promote sabbath schools, to sup- 
port the cause of foreign and domestic missions, of sea- 
men and of prisons ; institutions which some in almost 
all the denominations of Christians are hailing as the 
harbingers of the latter day glory. But how can it be 
expected that these benevolent associations will be sus- 
tained with a liberality in any degree adequate to the 
exigency of the times, so long as the support of public 
worship at home is made many times more expensive 
than it need be. 

Consider also the prodigious waste of men. Should a 
correct computation be made of the waste of men, cau- 
sed by the division of the church into sects, the result 
would doubtless surprise even those who have, been in 
the habit of mourning over this waste as an evil. We 
ask, can the church afford such a waste 1 The truth is, 
that educated men of piety, are scarce. The world 
needing many times more than it possesses, to answer 
all the purposes of benevolence, and there is a great 
deficiency even to supply the wants of our own country. 
How great then is the pity that such multitudes should 
be stationed where one half their number would do all 
their profitable business as well ; and how much more 
is it to be lamented that a host of talented men should be 
employed in building and repairing partition walls, which 
the interests of the church require to be demolished. 

But besides the wasteful expenditure of men and mo- 
ney, there are other tendencies in the division of the 



58 



church to impair its energies and eventually to bring it 
to destruction. The Saviour himself recognised the 
truth of the sentiment that divisions weaken and destroy, 
for he says, Matt. xii. 25, "Every kingdom divided 
against itself is brought to desolation, and every city 
and house divided against itself shall not stand." On 
what possible ground the church should be exempted 
from the operation of a principle applicable to all other 
communities, we are at a loss to imagine. 

Let us advert to its operation in politics. There are 
in all free governments two parties, one of them sup- 
porting, and the other opposing the administration. 
When one of these parties fall into controversy among 
themselves, and become rent into two or more divisions, 
does that party gain or lose strength by it ? Without 
doubt its strength is impaired by the division. In regard 
to the subject of religion, there are also two parties, its 
friends and its opposers. Would the friends of religion 
be encouraged by learning that infidels, Roman Ca- 
tholics, Unitarians, and all the other opposers of the 
cause of Christ, had united under one name, and are 
acting under the same counsels and with one heart in 
opposition to the truth of God ? And would our opposers 
rejoice, or would they tremble to see Christians cease 
from their contentions, healing their divisions, and uni- 
ting in one brotherhood, to bring the world to the obe- 
dience of the gospel ? 

The church is represented as engaged in a warfare 
with its enemies. To wage war, it is necessary that 
there be two opposing armies. One of these armies we 
will suppose to have no other divisions than convenience 
requires, each division, regiment, battalion, and com- 
pany acting under the command of one general in chief; 



59 



the other army is divided into separate bands, all pro- 
fessing indeed to be on the same side, but each wholly 
independent of the other, and of course choosing its 
own time and mode of operations. Which of those two 
armies, assuming them to be equal in numbers and skill, 
would combine the greatest strength 1 We need not wait 
for an answer. The church has been very improperly 
compared by the apologists for sect to the host of the 
children of Israel beautifully divided into tribes, each 
acting under its own prince and under its own banner, 
and marching to the conquest of Canaan. But these 
tribes were led by one commander, and were moved by 
one soul ; and independence, jealousy, contention, and 
discord were not inscribed on the banner of each, as they 
are on those of Christian sects. The various sects do 
indeed profess to be subjected to the same captain, 
namely, Jesus Christ ; but his commands come to their 
prejudiced ears in such contradictory sounds, that in- 
stead of being moved to act in unison, they move in op- 
posite directions. 

The pages of ecclesiastical history afford ample proof 
of the position that the church has been weakened by 
its divisions. During the first century commencing at 
the birth of Christ, when the church was united, more 
was done to diffuse and maintain Christianity in its pu- 
rity and power, than in many centuries after she was 
shorn of her strength by becoming the subject of divi- 
sions. And during the short period subsequent to the 
commencement of the reformation, while the protestant 
church remained undivided, more was effected in the 
extension of Christianity and the establishment of its in- 
fluence, than in the centuries of theological controversy 
and sectarian zeal which have followed. What progress 



60 

has been made in the seventeenth and eighteenth cen- 
turies, in the demolition of Satan's throne 1 Nothing 
was done, save what was done by the Moravians to en- 
lighten the darkness of heathenism, nor to dispel the 
delusions of Mahomet, nor to purify the countries co- 
vered with the abominations of popery, and the corrup- 
tions of the Greek church ; and how little, if any thing 
was done, to elevate the standard of religion in Christian 
lands, or to supply the destitute with the means of grace. 
And why has the church made no progress? Is not 
Christianity like a grain of mustard seed, whose tend- 
ency is to grow quickly into a stately tree, so that the 
fowls of the air lodge under its branches ? Is it not like 
leaven, whose nature is to diffuse itself through the whole 
lump? How comes it then that the church has not 
increased in holiness and extent ? The strength of the 
church lies in the union of its members ; but the bond 
of union has been broken, and the church has conse- 
quently been involved in a protracted civil war between 
her own members, instead of invading and conquering 
the country of the enemy. 

Satan, having drawn the church from the strong po- 
sition of its unity, has persevered in his efforts to pro- 
mote further divisions, and has been too succesful. 
Knowing that to divide is to conquer, he is still pursuing 
the broken ranks of his enemy, and is sowing the seeds 
of discord in the numerous fragments. Almost every 
denomination has, within a few years past, been broken 
into new divisions, and some appear at this moment to 
be ripe for another schism. Unless God in his mercy 
interpose and breath the spirit of union upon his church, 
we see not what is to prevent the process of subdivision 
to continue its course until the church shall in truth be 
brought to utter desolation. 



61 



CHAPTER III 



OBJECTIONS TO THE ABOLITION OFSECTS 
ANSWERED. 



1. That the benefit of emulation will be lost. 2. That it will in- 
volve a sacrifice of principle, to unite with Christians ivho have not 
the same faith. There is one faith common to all Christians. — 
What is the faith once delivered to the saints, — and how to be 
contended for. — Forbearance also a principle not to be sacrificed. 
— 3. That divers denominations are necessary to preserve purity of 
doctrine. 4. That they are also necessary, to operate upon all classes 
of the people. 5. The danger of uniting church and state. 6. That 
if sects were abolished, the church ivoidd soon again be divided. 

Having exhibited at some length the evils of sect, 
we ought perhaps in the next place to inquire whether 
there are not some advantages which have resulted to 
the church from its divisions. None surely to balance 
the terrible evils which have been occasioned by them. 
Division being itself an evil, any advantage that may 
have arisen from it, cannot prove that it is beneficial. 
6 



62 

It proves only that God can overrule the greatest evils 
so as to produce from them some measure of good. 
In this point of view, every evil which has befallen the 
church or the world, has its use. We are informed, 
from high authority, that heresies have an important 
use, namely, to sift the church of its chaff; but this can 
scarcely be admitted as a solid reason why heresies 
should be countenanced and continued, nor would it be 
very wise to institute a comparison between the value 
of heresy and that of the truth of God. Even the apos- 
tacy of our first parents has been overruled to a very 
valuable purpose, namely, to exhibit the justice and the 
mercy of God, and his unfathomable wisdom. Must 
we therefore defend the apostacy and cling to it? Or 
is it not clearly every man's duty to use his utmost en- 
deavours to recover from its fatal effects, and to become 
holy as God is holy 1 

If we have not made a very overcharged exhibition of 
the evils of division, it is scarcely possible to conceive 
that there can be any advantages to conterbalance them. 
If we have proved the unlawfulness and the unconstitu- 
tionality of sectarian divisions, then it matters not how 
many or how great are the benefits resulting from them ; 
for we may not weigh the advantages resulting from 
continuing in disobedience to God's law against the 
crime of disobedience. This is utterly inadmissible. 
Yet may we be permitted, in order to give to our sub- 
ject a full discussion, to examine the supposed advan- 
tages of the divisions in the church : this we shall do 
while we answer the objections which are made to the 
abolition of sects. 



63 

FIRST OBJECTION. 

It is objected that by abolishing sects, emulation be- 
tween Christians, which is one of the most powerful 
motives of action, will be destroyed. 

To sustain this objection, it must be alleged that 
while the church is divided into sects, one being jealous 
of the prosperity and honours of the rest, they will be 
more unwilling to be outdone in any good work, than if 
the church were united under one name. The objector 
may, however, deny that the emulation of opposing de- 
nominations is founded on jealousy of each other's well- 
fare and glory, and may simply appeal to the injunction 
upon Christians, to "provoke one another to good 
works," and may insist that this command will be best 
performed by the church in its divided state. 

It is the misfortune of error, always to be driven to 
false principles to support its positions ; and its advo- 
cates are often under the necessity of appealing to un- 
holy motives, not sanctioned, but condemned in the 
word of God. We can readily conceive how the praise- 
worthy conduct of an individual Christian may provoke 
(that is excite) another to imitate and even excel him ; 
and how the good works of Christians in one place may 
incite those of another place to follow the example ; 
and we see not why the power of example cannot ope- 
rate as effectually upon Christians in the united church, 
as when divided into parties. The only reason that can 
possibly be assigned, is that sects are envious and jea- 
lous of the success enjoyed, and the commendation 
bestowed upon other sects, and this gives power to the 
principle of emulation, which prompts each to excel, 
and thereby appropriate to itself the profit and praise 



64 



which would otherwise fall to the share of its rival. 
The history of sects abundantly shows that they have 
been more swift to follow evil than good example. 
What one has learned from and has been excited to do 
by the example of another, has been directed more to 
the interests of party than to advance the kingdom of 
Christ. And what better could be expected as the fruit 
of so unholy a motive, as that of envy or jealousy? 
From these sordid passions, arise all the emulation that 
exists between opposing sects, at least all that can fur- 
nish a more] powerful motive than that which may 
actuate Christians in the united state of the church, It 
is this emulation which is condemned by the apostle 
as one of the fruits of the flesh, springing, as it does, 
from the corruption of the unregenerate heart. Gal. v. 
19 to 21. When the happy exemplification of Christian 
character or conduct by one man, or by the church in 
one place, becomes the means of awakening the atten- 
tion of other men, or of the churches in another place, 
and of exciting them by the exhibition of what others can 
do, and are willing to do for Christ, to go and do like- 
wise, without the desire of gratifying jealousy or self 
glorying, then alone are Christians provoked or excited 
to love and good works from scriptural motives. This 
was the use which the apostle sought to make of a 
praiseworthy example, when he commended to the Co- 
rinthians the liberality of the churches of Macedonia. 
2 Cor. viii. The apology for sectarian divisions, on 
the ground that the church will lose the benefit of carnal 
emulations, is only a specimen of the body of false ethics* 
which have been learned in the school of sect. We 
have already exposed numerous instances, and will dis- 
discover many more, as we proceed in our discussioa* 



65 



The advocates for sect seem absolutely to have for- 
gotten that love — not the love of sect — but the love of 
holiness, the love of Christ, the love of mankind, is 
represented in the Scriptures as the most powerful of 
all the motives that can actuate an intelligent mind. It 
was love that moved the Father to spare his well belo- 
ved Son, and moved the Son to leave his Father, as- 
sume the nature of man, and suffer, and die. It was 
the- love of Christ that moved Paul, and all the holy 
apostles, to forsake all and endure all things, that they 
might please and obey him, and benefit mankind. It 
was the principle of holy love which the apostle Paul 
names as the constraining power that actuated the gen- 
uine preachers of the gospel. It is the same principle 
which he describes with so much eloquence and force, 
as that which sustains the Christian under tribulation, 
distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, and 
sword. Rom. viii. 35, &c. And when will this principle 
exhibit its greatest efficiency ; while it is contaminated 
and enfeebled by its commixture with sectarian and 
party pride, envy, jealousy, and emulations ; or when 
its professors shall have achieved the victory over their 
carnal affections, healed the dissentions in the church, 
and united in one brotherhood the family of God on 
earth ? 

Further, if the division of the church gives birth to a 
more powerful motive to do good, than can exist in its 
undivided state, it seems strange that Christians are 
not commanded, or at least encouraged to split into par- 
ties, so as to put themselves into the best possible con- 
dition for doing good. It is passing strange that the 
apostle Paul, who enjoins it upon Christians to provoke 
one another to love and good works, should not only 
6* 



66 

have neglected to point to the best mode of effecting 
this object, the division of the church, but that he 
should have enjoined the Corinthian believers, who 
were already splitting into parties, that there must be no 
divisions among them. 

SECOND OBJECTION. 

Another objection to the abolition of sects, is that it 
involves a sacrifice of principle, to unite with Christians 
of a different faith. 

In the epistle to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul 
exhorts the saints and the faithful in that city, evidently 
including those who loved the Lord Jesus Christ in 
sincerity, with all lowliness and meekness to forbear one 
another in love, and that they should endeavour to keep 
the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. The argu- 
ment upon which he founds the duty of forbearance, is 
that there is one body and one spirit, even as they were 
all called in one hope of their calling; and that there is 
one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. Eph. iv. 2 to 5. 
In the twelfth and thirteenth verses of the same chapter? 
he states the end or design of the means of grace enjoy- 
ed by the church, to be for the edifying of the body of 
Christ, " till we all come in the unity of the faith, and 
the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man." 

These verses evidently convey the idea that there is 
a faith common to all believers, even as the hope of their 
calling is common to them all. That the Christians at 
Ephesus were, perfectly united in all points essential and 
unessential, can scarcely be believed, although the 
apostle does not mention any particular differences as 
existing between them. That they were liable to such 
differences, is evidenced by the injunction made by the 



67 



apostle of the duty of forbearance to be exercised by on£ 
towards another, being bound together by the same 
hope, faith, baptism, and under the authority of one 
master. 

What sacrifice of principle is demanded by the pro- 
posal to unite in one church all the saints of God 1 Is 
it asked of you that you shall renounce the belief of 
what appears to you to be the mind of God, in any por- 
tion of his word? By no means. You are left at per- 
fect liberty to adhere to your own belief, without the 
surrender of a single article or point ; but you ought to 
be willing to allow the same freedom of opinion to 
others which you demand for yourself. Do you answer 
I am willing that Christians should adhere to their opin- 
ion, though different from my own ; but they must go 
to another church? We answer, this is not forbear- 
ance, but merely abstinence from the grosser forms of 
coercion and persecution. That there is a wide differ- 
ence between these, you will readily concede. 

Do you know, Christian brother, what you mean by 
a sacrifice of principle, as being demanded of you by 
the proposal to belong to the same church with those 
who do not in all things agree with yourself? Or do 
you only require that those who shall live in the same 
communion with yourself should embrace every doctrine 
which you hold to be fundamental? Then there is no 
difference between us ; for all Christians fundamentally 
and essentially have but one faith* according to the as- 
sertion of the apostle above quoted. 

Or do you contend that to belong to the same church, 
its members should have the same creed on all impor- 
tant points ? Then it may be necessary for you to de- 
fine what you mean by the word important. If that 



68 



word conveys to your mind an idea different from the 
word fundamental or essential, we demand of you what 
authority you have from the Scriptures, for refusing to 
hold communion with such as you admit to be sound in 
the faith on all fundamental points, and yet differ from 
you on matters not fundamental but important. It is 
obviously more easy to discover from the Bible what are 
the essential articles of the Christian faith, than what 
are the important ones ; and Christians standing free 
from the artificial shackles of sect, would find little or no 
difficulty to unite in a declaration of what are the funda- 
mental doctrines of the gospel. If a definition can be 
made at all of the word important, when applicable to 
matters of religious belief, it must be entirely of the in- 
vention of man ; and on this subject, there is room. for 
so much difference of sentiment, as that scarcely two 
intelligent Christians would be found of the same opin- 
ion. The truth is that every doctrine contained in the 
Bible is more or less important ; and if the children of 
God must be agreed on every important article of be- 
lief, before they can, without a sacrifice of principle, 
belong to the same church, they must either be perfectly 
of one mind, as to every tenet they draw from the Scrip- 
tures, or they must find some scale which has never yet 
been discovered, whereby to determine how important 
a given article of belief must be, to warrant a separation 
between Christians. This will be conceded to be im- 
practicable ; and therefore the objector is driven to take 
the ground that every man must be his own judge of the 
importance of any specified doctrine ; and that he is at 
liberty to belong or not to belong to the same commun- 
ion with others who differ from him, according to his 
own private judgement of its importance. And thus we 



69 



are left without any rule of action, except the judgement 
of the individual, irrespective of the Holy Scriptures. 
And then it results in this that the principle which the 
objector is so reluctant to sacrifice, is not any principle 
deduced from the only standard of faith and practice, 
but his own private fancy. 

We presume it will not be denied that our Saviour was 
as tenacious of principle as any of his followers ought to 
be. But he remained in the same spiritual family with 
his disciples, notwithstanding their doubts and their un- 
belief of doctrines which were, in his view, very impor- 
tant, namely, the spirituality of his kingdom, his death, 
and resurrection ; he having received them upon the 
evidence they gave of their attachment to him and his 
cause, and their belief in him as the Son of God and the 
promised Messiah. If in his ministry he was more lax 
in the admission of disciples than he designed his fol- 
lowers should be, this can only be inferred either from 
the dimness of the light, then but dawning upon the 
world, when compared with the full light that was there- 
after to shine upon it, or from some command or intima- 
tion given by himself, or by his inspired apostles after 
his death. We may indeed require a different degree of 
evidence touching the Christian character of such as 
may apply for admission into the church, than what was 
required by the Saviour and his apostles, since we have 
now a more full revelation from God, as to what con- 
stitutes that character, than what was given in the Old 
Testament ; which was all the Scripture then extant : 
and inasmuch as a simple avowal of faith in Christ, in 
that period of the church, afforded, under all the cir- 
cumstances then existing, stronger evidence of a change 
of heart than the same act would now afford ; yet the 



70 



inquiry in relation to proper subjects of church member- 
ship must, at this day, be directed to the same point to 
which it was then directed, namely, to ascertain whether 
they have passed from death to life, from darkness to 
light. We may be allowed at this day to be more mi- 
nute in our inquiries, both as to matters of faith and reli- 
gious conduct, in order to arrive at this conclusion,- in 
proportion to the facilities now enjoyed of knowing with 
certainty the mind of God on points of faith and practice, 
and the inducements to make a profession of religion, 
while the heart is unrenewed, when compared with the 
first periods of Christianity. But inasmuch as the Sa- 
viour did not insist as a text of discipleship, that those 
whom he received should assent to every important arti- 
cle which he knew to be contained in the Old Testa- 
ment, what right have we to demand as a condition of 
church membership an assent to every important article 
which ive believe, but do not know to be contained in the 
Scriptures 1 As Christ required from his disciples such 
a belief as afforded reasonable evidence of their love to 
God, so we may require such a belief as to afford rea- 
sonable evidence of the same fact. But as soon as we 
push our inquiries beyond this point, we cease to follow 
the example of our Lord and Master, and require what 
we have no warrant to require. 

If Christ or his apostles have given us any other di- 
rections as to the terms of church fellowship, than those 
which he himself practised, we may lawfully follow 
them, and are bound so to do. No such directions are 
found in the New Testament. The Saviour himself 
evidently desired that all his disciples should be one in 
feeling, in counsel, in action, and in name, even as he 
and the Father were one. The apostles practised on 



71 



no different principle than their Master had done before 
them in the reception of members into the church. And 
Paul directs the church at Rome, after having strongly 
inculcated the principle of forbearance, to receive one 
another, as Christ also received them, to the glory of 
God. Rom. xvi. 7. 

The objector still urges that Christians are command- 
ed, Jude 3, to " contend earnestly for the faith once 
delivered to the saints ;" and how, it is asked, shall we 
contend for the faith, if Ave give countenance to error, 
by holding church fellowship with those who deny it? 
The question is what the apostle Jude intended by the 
faith once delivered to the saints. From the context it 
seems quite evident to us that he refers to the faith 
which was not possessed by those ungodly men who had 
crept in, unawares, turning the grace of God, into 
laciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our 
Lord Jesus Christ; that he means the same faith which 
is common to all real Christians, and of which the apostle 
Peter speaks, 2 Pet. i. 1, where he addresses those 
who had obtained the like precious faith with himself, 
through the righteousness of God, and our Saviour Jesus 
Christ; that it is the same faith of which St. Paul 
speaks, Eph. iv. 5, where he declares that as there is 
but one Lord, so there is but one faith ; and that must 
be the faith which is common to all who love the Sa- 
viour. " The doctrine of the primitive church is to be 
"learnt with the utmost certainty, from the books of the 
" New Testament. These books were received by the 
"leading men in the Christian assemblies, and ap- 
" proved of by the people at large ; they were publicly 
" read and carefully preserved and transmitted, and hav- 
" ing been collected into a volume, towards the end oi? 



72 



" the first century, they became to all the followers of 
"Jesus throughout the world, the only standard of faith, 
44 and the only rule of righteous conduct. The primi- 
" tive church believed that there is one God uncreated 
" and everlasting ; that the Logos or Word of God, who 
44 was in the beginning with God, and was God, became 
" bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, and dwelt 
" upon the earth ; that he gave himself for us, an offer- 
44 ing and a sacrifice, and that being justified by faith, 
" we have peace with God ; that our present state is a 
44 state of condemnation, corruption, and suffering ; that 
" by the transgression of our first progenitor, sin entered 
44 into the world, and death by sin, and that death hath 
44 passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. That 
44 the soul of man shall exist in a future and unchangea- 
ble state of happiness or misery ; that by the influence 
44 of the Holy Ghost, our understandings are enlightened 
44 in all heavenly knowledge, and our hearts changed 
44 from all evil dispositions ; that Jesus Christ having 
" risen from the dead, will appear in the end of all 
" things, as the judge of the whole world, and that in 
44 the great day of trial and retribution, he will receive 
44 his followers into mansions of happiness, where they 
44 shall abide forever, beholding his glory, the glory 
44 which he had with the Father, before the world was. 
44 This is the sum of the doctrine maintained by the early 
44 churches, and it is this doctrine alone which they 
44 agreed in considering [as the faith once delivered to 
44 the saints." Edinburgh Encyclopedia, vol. viii. 126. 
Title " Ecclesiastical History." 

But if the objector has satisfied himself on due exa- 
mination, and the exercise of his deliberate judgement, 
what is precisely in all points the faith mentioned by the 



73 



apostle Jude, so as to distinguish it from the faith of all 
other sects than his own, we will ask him not to surren- 
der the privilege of contending for it as earnestly as his 
sense of the injunction may warrant ; but we entreat 
him not to contend for it in a manner manifestly unlaw- 
ful. Let him argue and persuade with all his powers, 
and with all the perseverance which the desire and hope 
of doing good may inspire ; but let him not contend for 
the faith once delivered to the saints, by driving from or 
keeping out of his church every Christian who cannot 
conscientiously assent to every article in his creed, nor 
by refusing to hold full Christian fellowship with such as 
he has reason to believe really and truly to be members 
of Christ's spiritual body. Jesus Christ did not so 
contend for the faith, when he received his disciples 
with all their obscurity of views, their prejudices and 
misapprehensions. The apostles did not contend for 
the faith delivered to the saints, by cutting of from the 
church such as conscientiously believed circumcision to 
be required under the Christian dispensation. St. Paul 
commanded the Corinthians to excommunicate the in- 
cestuous person, and directed Titus to cast incorrigible 
heretics out of the church ; he expressed to the Gala- 
tians his wish that the corrupt teachers who had troubled 
them and seduced them from their belief in the right- 
eousness which is of faith and not of works, were cut 
ofT; but he does not advise the more orthodox Galatians 
to organize themselves into a church, and adopt such a 
creed as would exclude their less orthodox or less esta- 
blished brethren. On the contrary, he exhorts all the 
brethren not to bite and devour one another ; to main- 
tain love, peace, long suffering, and to restore in meek- 
ness such as had been overtaken in a fault, without dis- 
7 



74 



tinguishing whether this long suffering was to be ob- 
served towards delinquents in matters of faith, or mat- 
ters of practice- In the ample instructions given in the 
epistles to Timothy and Titus, in regard to the govern- 
ment of the church, not a word is uttered that can be 
construed into a command or even a warrant to exclude 
such as have not the same views of divine truth in every 
particular with themselves. The epistles and the book 
of revelations furnish us with many of the marks of un- 
christian professors and teachers, and particularize 
many matters of belief, the maintenance or denial of 
which evidence the state of the heart ; but in no in- 
stance is any countenance given to the idea of with- 
drawing from or excluding such as hold to the founda- 
tion of the faith once delivered to the saints. It ivas 
left to God to consume the wood, hay, and stubble that 
might be erected upon the true foundation. 

Were Jesus Christ or his apostles less acquainted 
with the faith once delivered to the saints, or were they 
less tenacious of principle than the apologists of sect at 
the present day? They were intimately acquainted 
with every principle of religion, and of the relative im- 
portance of every one of them. There is no principle 
more earnestly or more clearly inculcated in the Scrip- 
tures, than that of Christian forbearance, in both mat- 
ters of faith and practice, enforced by the fact of the 
unity of the church, all its members being members one 
of another, and Christ the head of the whole body. 
You, then, who are so fearful of making a sacrifice of 
principle, what exempts you from the observance of the 
principle of forbearance which stands out so clearly 
throughout the whole of the inspired volume, as that he 
who runs may read 1 The principle to which you tena- 



75 



ciously adhere is, to speak in the mildest terms of hu- 
man invention, and not to be found in the Bible. While, 
then, you make conscience of not sacrificing aft principle 
for which you have only the authority of man, you do 
not scruple to violate a most important principle, taught 
and strenuously insisted on in the oracles of God. 

This notion of a sacrifice of principle being involved 
in belonging to the same church with those who do not 
in all points agree is, after all, rather an error of the 
heart, than a mistake of the judgement ; in other words^ 
it is but an apology for the manifestation of wrong feel- 
ings towards those who have obtained like precious faith 
with themselves. This we infer from the facility with 
which the notion is, in practice, often abandoned by 
good men, who are by no means deficient in judgement. 
A mere change of circumstances is often followed by a 
change of conduct in such as previously refrained from 
holding Christian fellowship with their brethren of an- 
other denomination, lest it should countenance their er- 
rors, or otherwise involve a sacrifice of principle. A 
marriage sometimes effects a total- revolution in this par- 
ticular with a whole family, and that without exciting 
any surprise, or causing any suspicion as to the purity 
of their motives, or any doubt of the propriety of their 
conduct. Often has a minister of the gospel been call- 
ed to take the charge, and actually taken charge of ^a 
church composed of the very men with whom he could 
not previously have held Christian fellowship, nor they 
with him, without being accused by themselves and 
others of having made a sacrifice of principle. And 
these changes take place, without the consciousness in 
any of the parties, that any principle has been sacrificed. 



76 



THIRD OBJECTION 



Another objection against the abolition of sects is, 
that divers denominations are necessary to preserve the 
purity of doctrine. 

There is a class of sectarians who conceive of the 
truth as the miser does of a precious jewel, that may be 
locked up in a casket, and remain there for ages, and 
preserve all its intrinsic value. The man of business 
would estimate the value of the jewel by its utility in car- 
rying on the purposes of trade, and in purchasing the 
necessaries of life. The man of benevolence would 
esteem it valuable only, as it would serve to diffuse the 
means of comfort and happiness among his fellow crea- 
tures. But these sectarians seem happy in the thought 
of possessing a document setting forth in uninspired 
language their peculiar views of doctrine in the form of 
a creed, catechism, confession of faith, or system of 
theology, and they carefully lock it up in their own 
small denomination, as a precious jewel, not to be seen 
or to benefit any but themselves and their own children. 
They are perfectly aware that their own sect is too weak 
to carry the gospel abroad to the heathen and the desti- 
tute, and they feel under no obligation to make the at- 
tempt. If they entertain the hope that the pure doctrine 
in their possession will ever benefit the world, the hope 
must be founded on the supposition that by some means 
to them unknown and unthought of the savour of its in- 
trinsic excellence will be diffused on every side, until, 
like leaven, it shall fill the earth with its fragrance. 
They conceive of the truth in their possession as of the 
most fine gold, and rather than to hazard its admixture 
with the less precious silver and brass of other denomi- 



77 



nations, they would leave the world under the tyranny 
of Satan, and itslnhabitants to drop, by thousands, an- 
nually, into the bottomless pit. Surely no argument 
can be necessary to expose the folly and wickedness of 
such contracted unscriptural views. 

There is another class of Christians who believe that 
the different denominations hold each other in check 
and preserve between them the balance of truth. This 
is a quaint notion, and although entertained by numbers, 
cannot have been adopted as a sentiment upon very ma- 
ture consideration. Were all sects abolished, so as to 
leave Christians at liberty to study the creeds of other 
denominations, they might from them all compose a 
formula of faith which would possibly be nearer the 
truth than any human production that has yet appeared ; 
but how the articles of one church can hold in check the 
articles of another, or how the balance of truth can thus 
be preserved, is to us utterly unintelligible. The truth 
of one creed is not needed to hold in check the truth of 
another, for if they are both truths, they require neither 
to be checked, or balanced. The truth of one cannot 
check or balance the error of another, for every deno- 
mination adheres closely to its own truths and its own 
errors ; and it certainly will not be pretended that the 
errors of one serve any valuable purpose to check or 
balance the errors of another. But suppose the check 
or balance may be actually inherent in the variety of 
creeds, how and upon whom are the benefits of it to 
be made to bear 1 Were but a portion of the Christian 
community divided into sects, the residue would reap 
all the advantages to be derived from this check ; but to 
whose benefit is it to inure, since every professor of 
religion is obliged to belong to one sect or another, and 

7* 



78 



is m duty bound, by the laws of sect to prefer his own to 
all the rest, in the same sense that a citizen is bound to 
adhere to his own country, when opposed by all the world 
besides. All the profit, then, of this balance of truth 
must be left to those who make no pretensions to reli- 
gion, and who of course cannot be supposed to be very 
solicitous on the subject of theological truth. 

But to speak without irony, we verily believe that in- 
stead of the different denominations holding each other 
in check, the creed of one drives another farther from 
the Bible, and that instead of preserving the balance of 
truth between them, sectarian divisions have a strong 
tendency to mar the beauty, corrupt the purity and destroy 
the power of truth. It is certain that of the opposite 
articles of different creeds, one or the other must be 
erroneous. By being adopted as a matter of faith in a 
certain denomination, the error is perpetuated; while 
but for the existence of sectarian divisions, it might soon 
have been buried in oblivion. That practical religion 
has much degenerated under the dominion of sect, is 
most certain, which could scarcely have been the result, 
if a diversity of denominations serve to preserve the pu-^ 
rity of doctrine. We are willing to concede that the 
doctrinal opinions held in one sect may, in some instan- 
ces, have been modified by such as are held in an anta- 
gonist one ; but we deny that this is at all attributable to 
the existence of sectarian divisions. This is merely the 
influence of mind upon mind, and the same operation 
would be going on, were the church again united. 
There would then, without doubt, be differences of 
opinion on unessential matters, and all the benefit of the 
influence of mind upon mind would still be realized ; 
with this important advantage, that the prejudices, non- 



79 



intercourse and opposition caused by distinctions of sect, 
would not subsist among those of the same church, and 
there would be more candour, sincerity, and simplicity 
of desire to learn the truth from each other, than there 
now is. 

The best scheme for preserving the purity of doctrine, 
according to some Roman Catholic divines, is to in- 
vest in a council of ecclesiastical dignitaries, the prero- 
gative of determining in all cases what shall be re- 
ceived as the truth. We do not readily perceive why 
one member of such a council might not be a check 
upon- the other, nor why the different individuals who 
compose the council may not preserve the balance of 
truth between -them, quite as well as the different sects. 
There is this advantage in favour of the council, that it 
forms but one body, the majority whereof declares the 
rule, while among the sects, each one declares for it- 
self, no one having authority over the rest ; and there- 
fore Protestants can receive the truth only in contradic- 
tory decrees pronounced by a multitude of independent 
courts. The members of the Roman Catholic church, 
on the other hand, enjoy the privilege of knowing the 
exact truth, as declared by one infallible court, free 
from the trouble, labour, and perplexity of balancing a 
multitude of conflicting decisions. In point of theory, 
the church of Rome seems to possess a decided advan- 
tage, and we might be tempted to give the preference to 
her views of the rules of faith and judge of controversy, 
did not we know how lamentably Christianity has been 
corrupted by her, if not wholly banished from her com- 
munion. 

Both Roman Catholics and sectarian Protestants ad- 
mit that the truth is not so clearly expressed in the 



80 



Scriptures ; but that it requires to be written over again, 
in different language, by authority of the church, to make 
it intelligible, and deliver it from controversy. There 
are indeed two points of difference between them ; Pro- 
testants place the authority in many councils, and the 
Catholics admit of but one. The latter pronounce the 
decrees of their own council to be infallible ; the former 
do not in terms claim the decisions of their many coun- 
cils to be infallible, but many of them adhere to those 
decisions with as much tenacity to all practical purpo- 
ses, as if they were infallible. In discussing the ques- 
tion on the rule of faith and judge of controversy with 
the Catholics, the Protestant sectarians make the Bible 
the only rule of faith, and every man for himself, under 
the teaching of the Holy Spirit, the judge of what the 
Bible means ; but when they deal with a clergyman or 
layman of their own denomination, while the Scriptures 
are, in theory, admitted to be the only rule of faith, the 
the church is substituted for the conscience of the indi- 
vidual, who must, by uniting himself with the church, 
surrender his judgement to her dictates. 

We believe that purity of doctrine was maintained in 
the days of the apostles, and in the primitive ages of 
Christianity, without the aid of sectarian divisions ; and 
if a united church was competent, with the help of the 
Holy Spirit, to understand the meaning of the Scriptures 
of truth in that period, we cannot comprehend how it 
can be necessary, in this age of the world, to keep the 
church in its divided state, in order to preserve the right 
understanding of the Scriptures, especially as we have 
the same Spirit for our teacher, besides the discussions 
and history of many centuries. 



81 

FOURTH OBJECTION. 

It is objected against the reunion of the church, that 
sundry denominations are necessary to operate to advan- 
tage upon all classes of the people. 

Some denominations, it is said, are better adapted 
for the rich, the polite, and the learned ; others for the 
middling classes in point of wealth, manners, and intel- 
ligence ; others for the poor and unlearned ; some for 
the populous towns and compact portions of the country ; 
while others are better calculated to carry the gospel into 
the sparse settlements and the wilderness. 

While the church was united in the early periods of its 
history, the gospel was carried to all classes of the peo- 
ple ; and we see not why the same object may not be 
accomplished after sectarian divisions shall cease. Un- 
der the present organization, polity, views and feelings 
of some other denominations, we admit that the whole 
of the population would scarcely be supplied with the 
means of grace, to the extent they now are ; and this 
defect may have operated as an encouragement to the 
formation or enlargement of other sects. But there is 
nothing in the nature of a united church that would hin- 
der it from embracing within its operations the whole 
family of human souls ; on the contrary, there is much 
in union to facilitate extension and profitable distribution 
of labour. It requires a variety of talent, disposition, 
and habit to answer all the ends of Christian effort, and 
this variety may be found employed and directed by the 
united as well as the divided church, and may be made 
to operate with more efficiency, and the whole con- 
ducted in the spirit of love, instead of being moved by 
the spirit of party jealousy and strife. In the apos- 



82 



tolic age, there was a diversity of talent, taste, acquire- 
ment, and habit, and a diversity of spiritual gifts be- 
sides. The apostles, however, did not deem it neces- 
sary or expedient to divide the church into parties, so 
as to afford better scope for the qualifications of the la- 
bourers to be employed. Nor does St. Paul seem to 
have discerned the advantage the church might have 
reaped from permitting the Corinthians to consummate 
their party divisions, by the formation of several inde- 
pendent sects, who might then have availed themselves 
of the diversified talents and dispositions of their Paul, 
their Apollos, and their Cephas, and the various spiri- 
tual gifts of the admirers and followers of each leader. 
This would commend itself to our advocates for sect, as 
an admirable expedient for operating upon all classes of 
the community, to the best possible advantage. But 
so thought not Paul ; for he enjoins them, in the most 
strenuous manner, to heal their carnal divisions, not to 
arrange themselves under different names ; but to re- 
main together in one body, of one name and heart ; so 
that all might act in harmony, like the different members 
of the human body. This is the wisdom of God, which 
is often found to be in direct opposition to the wisdom 
and traditions of men. 

FIFTH OBJECTION. 

The next objection against the abolition of sects, is 
the danger of uniting church and state. 

This objection, sometimes made by the friends of re- 
ligion, has been borrowed from its opposers, who dread 
the concentrated energies of a united church. What 
they fear is not simply a union of church and state, but 
their aversion to Christianity leads them to fear that it 



83 



may attain such an ascendency as to elevate a majority 
of Christian men to office in the civil government. This 
event cannot certainly be deprecated, but must be de- 
voutly desired by all intelligent Christians. It is barely 
possible that the sectarian prejudices of some may be so 
strong as that they would prefer to be governed by men 
destitute of religion, to the hazard incurred by the gene- 
ral prevalence of religion, that some of the larger sects 
might grow into a majority of the electors, fill the offices 
of state with men of their own denomination, and then 
perpetuate the ascendency by law. 

It is the low state of piety that keeps the church divi- 
ded into parties, and it will never be reunited, until the 
pure religion of the Bible shall have taken a stronger 
hold upon the hearts of its professors. Low as religion 
is, not a Christian of any intelligence can be found, 
who does not deprecate the union of church and state, 
as one of the greatest calamities that can befall the 
church, it being clear, from history and the relation of 
cause and effect, that when civil power is not attainable 
without a religious profession, the whole world of avarice 
and ambition will crowd themselves into the church, and 
destroy its spiritual character. The principle which will 
bring Christians into one band of union, is that of love, 
no other principle being of sufficient power to melt down 
the obstacles, and introduce harmony into the discor- 
dant materials. The process of effecting a reunion of 
the church must greatly increase the amount of personal 
religion among her members. If, then, with our present 
degree of light, religious feeling, and regard for the 
church, we see and deprecate the union of church and 
state, how can it be supposed that such a union will be 
desired and attempted, when Christians shall be more 



84 



deeply imbued with the spirit of the gospel, as they 
must be, before sects shall be abolished. 

We admit it to be possible, that with the prosperity 
of the church, the spirit of the world may, in process 
of time, be revived; professed Christians may then 
seize the reins of government, and by legal enactments, 
exclude others from it. But this argument proves too 
much ; because from the same premises, it may, with 
equal reason, be concluded that the general prevalence 
of the Christian religion is not desirable, lest the admi- 
nistration of the civil government should fall into the 
hands of Christians, and all other persons be excluded 
by law. This is surely a strange argument, when used 
by Christians, however much in character it may be, 
when proceeding from the enemies of religion. 

No ; intolerance has no affinity with the pure and spi- 
ritual religion of the Bible. It is the corrupting influ- 
ence of the spirit of sect and party which has given 
birth to all the test acts which have ever been adopted. 
And should unfortunately any of the denominations now 
in existence, or hereafter to arise, becoming more con- 
formed to the world than the rest, gain the favour of the 
irreligious part of the community, or form an alliance 
with some political party, and thereby attain to the com- 
mand of the civil government, they would be under a 
strong temptation to intrench themselves in power, and 
trample upon the rights of conscience. Here lies the 
danger of the union of the church and state, and not m 
the abolition of all sectarian distinctions. 

SIXTH OBJECTION. 

The last objection which we shall notice against the 
abolition of sects is, that the reunion of the church, if 
effected, will be only temporary. 



85 



This objection lies with equal forpe against every 
proposal for reforming what is amiss, or for suppressing 
what is evil. It will do no good to abolish lotteries, 
because men are more disposed to obtain money by 
gambling than by honest labour ; and therefore public 
feeling will dictate public sentiment, and soon effect the 
restoration of the lottery system. Why should we weary 
ourselves in the attempt to suppress the evil of intem- 
perance, and the abominations of the theatre, since the 
appetites and propensities of men will soon bring them 
back to former habits ? And why should we disquiet 
ourselves and the Christian community, by attempting 
to abolish sects, since the discordant opinions, and con- 
tentious dispositions of Christians will soon split them 
again into parties 1 

What answer would Paul or our Saviour give to this 
objection? They would point him to the constitution of 
the church one and indivisible. They would show him 
the bond of union which God has provided to encom- 
pass all his children, and hold them together, namely, 
the holy principle of love, maintained in all its strength 
and beauty, by the exercise of mutual forbearance in 
the spirit of meekness. They would remind him of the 
many great and precious promises recorded in the Scrip- 
tures, and designed to make the children of God parta- 
kers of the divine nature, which is love itself, and upon 
which promises the church of God may confidently rely, 
when she walks in the path of duty. They would prove 
to the objector that this same bond of love, if Christians 
would only gird it around them, would be seen to pos- 
sess the same efficacy which it had in the primitive ages, 
when for two or three centuries, the world was con- 
8 



86 



strained to exclaim, behold how these Christians love 
one another ! 

Admitting, for the sake of argument, that the union 
of the church, though framed upon due deliberation, and 
after years of well directed preparatory measures, should 
prove not to be of permanent duration, is it not worth 
some pains to procure a temporary respite from the 
contentions, strife, and multiplied evils of sect ] Is not 
a short peace among nations at war, deemed among all 
the wise worth the trouble of a negotiation for the resto- 
ration of peace 1 

If by a hasty movement upon some sudden impulse, 
the various denominations should become amalgamated, 
we readily concede that it would be Utopian to expect a 
long continuance of such a union ; as much so, as it 
would be to calculate upon a cessation from war in the 
earth, in case a congress of nations should suddenly 
agree forever to sheathe the sword, without any prepa- 
ratory measures having been taken to impress upon the 
minds of rulers and people a due appreciation of the 
sinfulness and evils of war, and the value of peace. 
To bring about the union of the church upon a solid and 
permanent basis, requires much of patient preparatory 
labour. Our views of what is necessary and expedient 
to accomplish this all-important object, will be given in 
a subsequent chapter. 



87 



CHAPTER IV. 



OBSTACLES TO THE REUNION OF THE 
CHURCH . 



1. The power of long cherished habits and opinions. — 2. The 
powerful interests which bind men to sect. — 3. The subjection o* 
the periodical press to the interests of sect. — 4. The fear of odium 
and contempt." — 5. The many objects of attention already before 
the public. — 6. The present low state of religion. — 7. Human 
creeds, confessions of faith, and systems of theology. 

Our aim, thus far, has been to impress upon the rea- 
der our own convictions of the unconstitutional and evil 
nature of sectarian divisions. Admitting that we have 
succeeded in satisfying his judgement of the correctness 
of our own convictions, he may yet see such obstacles, 
difficulties, and discouragements, in the way of reuni- 
ting the church, as to deter or discourage him from em- 
barking in the enterprise of collecting the scattered frag- 
ments, and restoring her original unity. We propose, 
in this chapter, to take a view of these obstacles, and to 
show that they are by no means insurmountable. They 
may be removed, we apprehend, with the exercise of a 



88 



moderate share of Christian fortitude, zeal, and perse- 
verance. 

I. The power of long cherished habits and opinions, 
is the first obstacle which we shall notice. 

It is true that Christians of the present, and several 
of the preceding generations, have breathed the very at- 
mosphere of sect and party. The religious education of 
children, where it has not been of an infidel cast, or 
wholly neglected, has been of a sectarian character. 
From childhood to mature age, the same training has 
been continued ; for our books, our schools of religious 
instruction, our preaching, the organization of our chur- 
ches, have been sectarian. And it may be supposed 
that the Christian community are in conseqence as firm- 
ly settled in their opinion of the lawfulness of sect, as 
the Hindoo is in the propriety of caste, or the Mahome- 
tan in the truth of the alkoran. We may be told, more- 
over, that this opinion has been fortified by the secta- 
rian habits which they have produced or cherished ; in- 
somuch that the professors of the gospel of peace and 
love, are so much accustomed to the exercise of jea- 
lousy and alienation of heart towards Christians of other 
sects, that the thought of uniting with them is wholly 
inadmissible. 

Formidable as this obstacle is, we cannot admit it to 
be insuperable. It cannot be so difficult to convince 
the Christian whose mind is enlightened with a knowl- 
edge of the principles of the Holy Scriptures, that he 
may have overlooked or misapplied those principles, as 
it is to convince the Hindoo of the absurdity of caste, 
or the Mahometan of the falsity of the koran. To 
break down the prejudices of these, we have no argu- 



89 



ments to adduce but such as are addressed to their un- 
derstandings, which have become wholly obscured by the 
false principles of their faith ; but with the Christian, 
we meet on common ground, for we both acknowledge 
the Bible as the only rule of our faith and practice. And if 
from the Bible it can be satisfactorily proved that sects 
are unlawful, unconstitutional, and a Pandora's box of 
evils to the church, what right have we to assume that 
the lovers of truth will not be willing to hear the voice 
of truth speaking in the oracles of God, and obey its 
dictates? The reformation from popery, in the six- 
teenth century, is a standing proof of the power of scrip- 
tural truth to change the most inveterate and long che- 
rished opinions ; and the progress of temperance in our 
own times, is a convincing proof of the power of an en- 
lightened conscience to change the most fixed habits, 
and even to conquer the strength of long indulged appe- 
tite. 

The word of God is represented to be, and truly is, 
as the fire and hammer that breaks in pieces the hearts 
of the enemies of God, hard by nature, and more har- 
dened by the continued practice of sin ; and why then 
should we fear that the same word will fall powerless 
upon the hearts of the friends of God, which have been 
softened by the influences of the Holy Spirit. We may 
not judge so uncharitably of our Christian brethren, 
concerning whom we are in duty bound to think no evil, 
but to believe all things, and to hope all things. 1 Cor. 
xiii. 5, 7. 

The sentiment that the antiquity of opinions and cus- 
toms proves them to be correct, is much impaired in the 
minds of the Christian public ; and as it is believed that 
the men of the present generation are capable of under- 
8* 



90 



standing the reasons adduced by their predecessors, for 
the opinions they have formed, it is no longer received 
as proof of an innovating spirit, to examine into the 
soundness of human opinions, practices, customs, and 
habits, how long soever they may have prevailed, and 
been assumed to be correct. The spirit of inquiry is 
awake, and has been quickened by the discoveries which 
have been made since the principle of implicit deference 
to by-gone ages has been on the decline. As it is now 
acknowledged that the church for two hundred years has 
slept upon the duty of carrying the gospel to a dying 
world, and has cherished in her bosom the dreadful evil 
of lotteries, intemperance, and slavery, the public mind 
is in some measure prepared to search what other evils 
may have crept into the church, during the long period 
of spiritual death and inactivity, wherein the powers of 
darkness have had ample scope for the exercise of their 
craft and malice. The maxim of the Bible " to the law 
and to the testimony," is again coming into vogue, as 
in the days of the reformation. Why then should we 
despair of the willingness of Christians to judge of the 
divisions which have torn the church in pieces, by the 
infallible standard of right and wrong ] 

II. Another obstacle that may be supposed to lie in 
the way of effecting a reunion of the church of Christ, is 
presented in the 'powerful interests which bind men to 
the car of sect. 

But who are the persons so strongly interested to sup- 
port sectarian divisions? The lay members of the 
church and the people at large would clearly be gainers 
by the reunion of the church, as they will save the enor- 
mous waste of men and money which we have pointed 



91 



out as one of the evils of division. The cost of main- 
taining the ministers of the gospel, theological schools, 
religious publications, and the erection and maintenance 
of houses for public worship, would probably be dimi- 
nished one half by the abolition of sects. It would be 
principally the ministers of the gospel, and perhaps only 
a few of them, whose employments would be deranged 
by the change ; and the derangement would be tempo- 
rary only, as the united church will need all the efficient 
clergy which the present age can furnish. The officers 
of our theological schools would not necessarily be sub- 
jected to any change of employment, unless such 
schools, as are not in fact needed, should be discon- 
tinued. 

But whatever sacrifices might be required of those 
officers, ministers of the gospel, or the higher dignita- 
ries of the church, in order to remove so vast an evil as 
that of division, we may not indulge the doubt that they 
will be made with all the cheerfulness which Christian 
benevolence does not fail to inspire. Men who have 
devoted themselves to the service of Christ, may be 
made to understand what the interests of his church re- 
quire, and may be induced to act in accordance with 
their convictions. They may be induced to practice the 
self-denial so frequently and strenuously inculcated by the 
Saviour and his apostles, and which they so eminently 
exemplified in their own practice, even to the forsaking 
of kindred, houses, lands, places of profit, and to the 
loss of life itself, if necessary to render obedience to the 
commands of Christ, and to advance the interests of his 
kingdom. St. Paul expresses his persuasion in the 
strongest terms that nothing can separate the true be- 
liever from the love of Christ. And there are not lack- 



92 



ing striking examples in our own times, of men posses- 
sing noble minds and commanding talents, who have 
abandoned comfortable homes, lucrative and honourable 
employments, the enjoyments of-civilized life and coun- 
try, and a healthful climate, to carry the gospel of sal- 
vation to the destitute, and to serve their divine Master 
in the stations allotted to them in his providence. Many 
laymen in this country have, in obedience to the dictates 
of an enlightened conscience, and the requirements of 
the public good, relinquished the lucrative employments 
of making and vending the products of the still. And 
can it be believed that the clergy, who are expected to 
take the lead in the direction of correct public sentiment, 
and to be ensamples in all things to the people, will be 
less disposed to yield to the circumstances that may be 
imposed on them, in consequence of so desirable a 
change in the concerns of the church, as the restoration 
of its original unity? 

Perhaps we ought to admit that one of the most 
powerful interests which bind men to the support of 
sects, arises from the ambition of ministers of the gos- 
pel. There are, in this higly honourable and useful 
order of men, some who love distinctions and influence ; 
and there may be those whose consequence, in their 
own view, consists mainly in being one of the leaders 
of a party, and whose standing would inevitably be 
lowered by the amalgamation of sects. They could not 
be great men in a large community, though they may 
hold a station of considerable consequence in a smaller 
one. It may be that this might influence some to op- 
pose the reunion of the church. Were there many of 
this stamp, we confess it would present a most formida- 
ble obstacle. But we hope their number is small, and 



93 



that the opposition would prove feeble. Their characters 
are probably more correctly estimated than they them- 
selves are aware, and their adherence to the interests 
of sect, would be attributed to the right cause. 

Why then should it be supposed that the interests of 
Christians will oppose an insurmountable obstacle in so 
holy an enterprise as that of healing the dreadful wounds 
inflicted on the church by its divisions ? Or shall we be 
compelled to add this to the list of the evils of division, 
that it has banished the virtue of self-denial from the 
church ? 

III. The subjection of the periodical press to the in- 
terests of sect, is another obstacle that may be urged to 
the proposed reformation. 

And by some of the friends of union, it may be feared 
that the religious newspapers and periodicals of the day 
are too much under the influence of sectarian opinions, 
feelings, or patronage, to admit of their becoming the 
channel of bringing before the public doctrines subver- 
sive of their own views, or those of their patrons ; and 
it may be apprehended that there is no other adequate 
medium of enlightening public opinion. 

We are very reluctant to believe that there is any 
considerable number of our religious publications, into 
which it would be refused to admit discussions of such 
grave and important subjects, as the unity of the church, 
and the duties devolving upon Christians, in consequence 
of -existing divisions. The spirit of bigotry has too 
much declined, and that of free inquiry has too far ad- 
vanced to allow the indulgence of such apprehensions. 
We think it is evident from the complexion of the publi- 
cations in question, that there will be no disposition to 



94 



withhold from the public the opportunity of reading dis- 
cussions of doctrines not stale, nor manifestly erroneous 
or dangerous ; or of opinions not decidedly singular ; 
especially when deduced from the Scriptures ; the ac- 
knowledged standard of religious truth. If the danger of 
losing patronage should be supposed to enter at all into 
their calculation, they may see the prospect of gaining 
more by the facility thus afforded to the friends of union, 
than they would lose by displeasing the apologists for 
sectarian divisions. The advocates for the unity of the 
church entertain no fears from the reflection that their 
opponents would justly claim and be entitled to an equal 
right to be heard ; for they are perfectly willing, if their 
views are not capable of enduring the ordeal of strict 
scriptural examination and sound argument, to submit 
to the decision of an intelligent Christian community. 

Should, however, the periodical press, contrary to our 
hopes, exclude all discussions on the subject in ques- 
tion, there is another resort. It is the glory of the 
American people that the press itself, in this country, is 
free as the light of heaven, and in one form or another, is 
accessible to all; and whatever means may become 
necessary in order to bring the question of the unity of 
the church fairly before the Christians of America, it is 
confidently believed that the friends of union will be 
found willing to furnish them. 

IV. The fear of odium and contempt. 

So deeply fixed and rooted, it may be imagined by 
some, is the opinion of the lawfulness and advantages 
of divisions, that the advocates and friends of reunion 
will be treated with derision, scorn, or hatred, as vision- 
ary theorists, or dangerous innovators, and perhaps be 



95 

regarded as attempting to add another name to the long 
list of religious denominations already distracting the 
church ; or be viewed in the same light with the petty 
sects of Christians, Mormonites, and others, which 
profess not to belong to any of 'the pre-existing denomi- 
nations, and to have no other creed but the Bible. 

The subtle enemy of God knows well, that so long as 
he can succeed in fomenting divisions in the kingdom of 
Christ, his own dominion in the earth is secure ; but he 
hears of the reunion of the protestant church as the 
knell of his departed power, for then shall the seed of 
the woman be endued with strength to crush the ser- 
pent's head. The cunning adversary has therefore, like 
a master spirit, contrived to magnify and multiply the 
obstacles to the reunion of his broken enemy ; and per- 
haps one of his most artful devices has been to thrust 
forward his own instruments to take in part the same 
ground which he knew his enemy must occupy to deliver 
the church from the curse of division. He has accord- 
ingly excited fanatics, infidels, and men who hate the 
holy truths of the Bible, to arrogate to themselves the 
honour of being its most devoted friends, pretending to 
receive the Scriptures as the only standard of their faith. 
He has instigated these enemies of the church to assume 
the form of religious societies, professing to receive into 
their communion all Christians upon the broad ground of 
the Scriptures. That these are wolves in sheep's cloth- 
ing has been so manifest from their unchristian conduct 
and palpable errors, that they have succeeded to decoy 
only a few of the ignorant and unwary ,and they have 
become the subjects of odium and contempt. And now 
it may be feared that the true friends of religion will be 
regarded with like feelings, when they propose to reunite 



96 



the church upon the broad ground of the constitution 
ordained by its head. 

We have stated this obstacle thus fully in order to ex- 
hibit it in its true aspect, and thereby show that there is 
nothing formidable in it. All designing errorists, it is 
well known, mingle something of truth with their false- 
hoods ; otherwise they would secure no adherents ; and 
if the sectarians to which we have just alluded have 
adopted any one principle which is true, that principle is 
no less true for having been avowed by them, although 
they are the enemies of the church. Satan himself 
uttered some scriptural truths when he tempted the 
Saviour in the wilderness, and no Christian can justly 
be hated or despised for using the same for a lawful pur- 
pose. If it be a true doctrine of the Bible that God con- 
stituted the church one, and that its divisions into sects 
is unlawful and pregnant with evils without any counter- 
vailing advantages, then it is right and honourable to ad- 
vocate and promote by proper means a return to its ori- 
ginal unity ; and if they find it necessary or profitable to 
assume principles, which have been perverted by fanatics 
and ungodly men, but which are nevertheless true, it 
seems to require only a small share of Christian fortitude 
to bear all the scorn and reproach to which they may in 
consequence be subjected. 

Y. The many objects of attention already before the 
public. 

Those who view this as an obstacle in the way of the 
friends of union, must suppose that there are already so 
many schemes of benevolence engaging the time and 
care of the Christian community, that the plan for re- 



97 



uniting the church cannot be hoped to receive the atten- 
tion and support necessary to its accomplishment. 

We believe this to be a mistake. Wonders have been 
accomplished by a division of mental and bodily labour. 
And so in all the operations of religious charity, much 
can be done by the occupancy of his proper place by 
each, according to his capacity and inclination. The 
American Bible Society found agents and patrons to 
sustain it, notwithstanding the number already embarked 
in the cause of foreign missions ; and when home mis- 
sions were subsequently undertaken, Christians were 
found prepared to attend to the concerns of that enter- 
prise. The Tract Society caused no diminution of at- 
tention or effort to any of the preceding. The Sunday 
School Union, the Education, Seamens' Friend, Prison 
Discipline, and Temperance Societies, as their succes- 
sive claims have been presented to the public, have com- 
manded as much of attention and interest, and the means 
of commencing and sustaining them have been as rea- 
dily supplied as if they had respectively been the only 
benevolent enterprise on foot in the country. The 
Temperance Society, though last on the list, has been 
more vigorously sustained than any of its predecessors. 

All these associations are now in progress, but are 
not combining the power they ought and which they 
would combine, if the whole body of Christians were 
held together in one bond of union. This would give 
them tenfold more of strength and efficiency. Admit- 
ting that to bring about this union, it will be necessary to 
secure an additional amount of attention and labour ; it 
must also be conceded that as yet, but a small propor- 
tion of the whole number of true believers is actively 
employed in any Christian enterprise, and that it is very 
9 



98 



desirable that all who are competent should find some- 
thing to do in the service of their Master. The evils of 
division are palpable to the understandings of all classes 
of Christians, and all are capable o*f bearing some part 
in restoring the prevalence of love, forbearance, and 
unity in the church. Why then should we indulge the 
fear that this holy and all-important enterprise will fail 
of commanding the support necessary to its accomplish- 
ment? Let it be commenced, and it will not only be 
sustained, but give tone and vigour to every other scheme 
of benevolence. 

VI. The low state of religion. 

Many who entertain the belief of the ultimate reunion 
of the church, do not view it practicable at the present 
time, or at any except a remote period, and are conse- 
quently discouraged from any effort towards accomplish- 
ing it, while the standard of religion is so low ; and are 
induced to postpone even the consideration of the sub- 7 
ject until a more favourable era shall have dawned upon 
the church. 

It is indeed of vital importance that the standard of 
religion should be elevated to a much higher point than 
it is at the present day ; and we agree that until it shall 
be so elevated, little will be done to advance the great 
interests of the Redeemer's kingdom in any form. But 
how is a better state of things to be brought about ? We 
answer, the church must be purified by action and trial ; 
and we are happy in the belief that the process has com- 
menced. Those benevolent enterprises which require 
contributions of money, such as the cause of missions, 
the spread of the Bible, and the like, are trying Chris- 
tians on their love of mammon, when the love of Christ 



99 



requires them to surrender it. The temperance refor- 
mation tries them on their attachment to appetite, habit, 
and fashion ; while those plans which call on Christians 
for their personal attention, thought, and active exertions, 
such as the distribution of tracts and teaching in Sunday- 
Schools, are trying their love of ease. We cannot con- 
ceive of any means better adapted to forward the salu- 
tary process of trial and action, than the scheme of heal- 
ing the divisions of the church. It will act like the re- 
finer's fire and the fuller's soap. It will test the love of 
Christians for the universal church of Christ on earth, 
and their regard for the authority of God in constituting 
the church one and indivisible. It will distinguish be- 
tween the love of party and the love of the brethren ; be- 
tween the love of sectarian emoluments and dignities, 
and their love of the service of Christ. It will discover 
to men the strength of their attachment to their own tem- 
poral interest, and to their own peculiarities, and to the 
traditions of men when brought in competition with the 
commands of the Saviour, and the requirements of God's 
own word. 

In what manner Christians generally will be brought 
into active efforts to advance Christ's kingdom, by pro- 
secuting the scheme for reuniting the church, will be 
shown in a subsequent chapter, where we shall point out 
the means to be pursued for its attainment. 

While, therefore, we admit that the low state of reli- 
gion forbids the hope of an immediate abolition of sects, 
it furnishes no reason why the work needful to accom- 
plish the object should not be commenced. This ap- 
pears to us to be the point to which Christian effort 
should now be directed, and we perceive little ground of 



100 



hope that the standard of religion will be elevated by any 
other means. 

VII. Creeds, Confessions of Faith, and Systems of 
Theology. 

Though this obstacle is of a character somewhat simi- 
lar to that with which we commenced this chapter, it is 
believed to be so far distinguished from it as to require a 
separate consideration. It may be feared that this will 
prove the most formidable of all the obstacles to the re- 
union of the church, as these creeds constitute the very 
walls of partition that divide the church. The creeds, 
and in some instances the confessions of faith, are for- 
mally proposed to applicants for church membership, and 
their assent thereto required as an indispensable term of 
their reception. Books containing systems of theology, 
Bibles with commentaries in support of those systems, 
creeds, and confessions of faith, are scattered in each 
sect, more or less throughout the families of which they 
are composed; and the children drink in with their 
mother's milk a veneration and attachment to the creed 
of their parents. How then, it is asked, can there be 
any hope of removing this obstacle ? 

We admit that here is presented a serious difficulty, 
which it may require time and patience to remove ; but 
that it is insuperable we are not willing to believe. In- 
dependently of the consideration that God loves the 
truth, and has power over the human heart to impress 
the truth upon it, our hope is that the effort is to be made 
upon Christians, who admit the Bible to be from God, 
and acknowledge it their duty to render obedience to all 
its requirements ; that we shall be addressing ourselves 



101 



to ministers of the gospel and others, who are capable 
of understanding and appreciating the claims of the in- 
spired writings, as infinitely superior to any human pro- 
duction, how wise soever may have been the author, or 
however wise or numerous may have been its advocates 
and adherents. However venerable any human writings 
may be, even in the eyes of those who have long been in 
the habit of referring to them as standards, they are still 
but the work of men, fallible men, and cannot stand in 
opposition to the ivord of God, which is the only standard 
of religious faith and practice. If the church was con- 
stituted by its head one and indivisible, and if the exist- 
ing divisions are in violation of its constitutional unity ; 
if these points are incontrovertibly proved, then, as soon 
as it shall be perceived that creeds or any other work of 
man stands as a barrier against the reunion of the church, 
charity forbids us to assume that Christians will be too 
stubborn to consent to the removal of the obstacle. 

Every creed is under the control of the denomination 
which has adopted it, and may be modified or surrender- 
ed at its will. So may every thing except the Bible. 
This alone is sacred, being the word and work of God 
himself. If this be lost all is lost ; if this be preserved 
all is safe ; whatever else is changed or abandoned. 
The true doctrine of the unity of the church being con- 
sidered and examined, will be found to be at variance 
with the lawfulness of any creed, not embracing all who 
love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. To convince 
the generality of intelligent Christians of this truth, is an 
attainable object, and well worth a few years of thought 
and effort. And it may be found amidst the changes 
which are now going on with such rapidity in the world, 
that sooner than we now dare to hope, creeds may be so 
9* 



102 



modified as to exclude only the fundamental errorist. 
Then, to keep out the irreligious man, who may profess 
a sound faith but deny the same in his practice, must be 
entrusted, as it must be under every form of administer- 
ing the church, to a faithful ministry, and a watchful dis- 
cipline, upon the principles of the Bible. 



103 



CHAPTER V. 



THE FACILITIES OR ENCOURAGEMENTS 
TO REUNION. 



The staleness of religious controversy. — Experience for 200 
years of the evils of division. — The union of several denomina- 
tions actually formed of late for various benevolent purposes. — 
The harmonious faith of Christians on essential doctrines, evi- 
denced by the publications of the American Tract Society. — The 
alarm manifested by the advocates of sect. — The alarm manifest- 
ed by the enemies of religion. — Late publications, &c. evidencing 
that the principle of union is at work in the hearts of Christians. — 
The diffusion of useful knowledge. — Prophecy. 

Having considered the obstacles standing or suppos- 
ed to stand in the way of the reunion of the church, and 
having shown that none of them are insuperable, let us 
next inquire whether there be not at the present time 
favourable circumstances and indications, which ought 
to be regarded as encouraging to the friends of union, 
and facilitating the accomplishment of the work before 
them. 



104 

1. As the spirit of controversy is one of the great 
causes of division, it is certainly encouraging to observe, 
that religious controversy has become so stale, as not to 
command the universal attention and excite the intense 
interest which it has in time past. Although there is 
not, perhaps in the generality of Christians, any decrease 
of attachment to the peculiarities of their own sect, that 
attachment can no longer be secured by the interest felt 
in religious controversy. The truth is, the topics of dis- 
cussion are exhausted. All the points of difficulty pre- 
sented in the Bible have already been again and again 
examined and argued out, so that it seems almost im- 
practicable to present any new subjects of dispute, and 
novelty is indispensable to command sufficient interest 
even to insure the reading of what may be written. Be- 
sides, a considerable proportion of intelligent Christians 
find so much of active labour to perform, that they have 
neither time nor inclination to read on subjects of con- 
troversy. For these reasons it is that the discussions 
on theological subtleties and practical differences, which 
fill some of the columns of our religious periodicals, are 
uniformly passed over by perhaps more than half of their 
readers. Neither the dispute between the old school 
and the new school, however zealously conducted ; nor 
the apparently new aspect which that controversy may 
have assumed in the subtle discussions between Taylor 
and his antagonists, nor the still more recent " Act and 
Testimony" of the dissenters from the Presbyterian 
church, suffice to awaken a general interest in , the 
Christian community. The battle is interesting to few 
except the combatants ; while the many turn away in 
disgust or grief from the spectacle. And the more the 
form of these profitless janglings shall be multiplied, the 



105 



sooner will the body of Christians spue the unhallowed 
effusions of party zeal out of their mouths. 

There seems to be a growing aversion to speculative 
theology, from a belief of its unprofitableness ; the learn- 
ing of the schoolmen is passing into oblivion or dis- 
esteem ; and the intense anxiety which formerly pre- 
vailed to know what men ought to believe, is moderated 
by the desire of knowing also what they ought to do in 
order to please God. The whole of religion is assum- 
ing a more practical form, and it is no longer believed to 
be enveloped in all the mystery which the learning and 
zeal of the disputatious have thrown around it. 

2. We have all the advantages which the history of 
the church is capable of affording to show the useless- 
ness of sects, and their evil effects and tendencies. The 
experience of two hundred years is thus brought before 
us, and proves satisfactorily, how futile is the attempt to 
make a purer church by narrowing the terms of commu- 
nion and membership, and thus compelling the believer 
to make a choice between opposing denominations, or 
to live without any visible communion with his fellow 
heirs of salvation. The history of two centuries has 
also furnished us with an ample view of the manifold 
and grievous evils which have resulted from the violation 
of the constitutional unity of the church. 

3. We have not only the evidence that a portion, and 
a considerable and very respectable portion of the Chris- 
tian community, have begun to see the necessity of a 
union between Christians of different denominations, but 
we have the strong and encouraging fact that an actual 
union has been formed for several important and valua- 
ble purposes, in the formation of the Boards of Foreign 



106 



and Domestic Missions, as well as the Education and 
Tract Societies, and the Sunday School Union. 

4. We have evidence of a most pleasing and satis- 
factory nature of the harmonious faith of all evangelical 
Christians in every doctrine and practice that is of es- 
sential importance, in the nine volumes of tracts pub- 
lished to the world by the American Tract Society, con- 
taining a body of doctrinal and practical divinity of more 
value than all the human creeds, confessions of faith, and 
systems of theology which form the standards of any 
church on earth. The great and many truths embraced 
in these volumes, most clearly show how much of Christ 
and his salvation, and the duty of man to God and his 
fellow men, may be taught and preached without con- 
flicting with the sectarian opinions of any denomination. 
The existence of these volumes of tracts of such a cha- 
racter is indeed a most remarkable fact ; and it is matter 
of regret that they have not found a place in the library 
of every clergyman and of every Christian family in the 
United States. 

5. May we not also derive encouragement from the 
alarm which is manifested by the advocates of sectarian 
division, and the measures which they have taken and 
are taking to strengthen the chains of sect? We do not 
intend to charge them with aiming simply at that object. 
They are doubtless moved by an honest apprehension 
that the signs of the times indicate a great revolution in 
the concerns of the church, which they fear will overturn 
established opinions and usages, and so open the flood- 
gates of error as to confound truth with falsehood. This 
has been the ground of justification for the continued 
violation of the constitutional unity of the church during 



107 



the last two centuries : as though the Bible did not con- 
tain within itself the principles necessary to preserve the 
holy religion it reveals, and as though something of the 
wisdom of man exercised in contrariety to the wisdom 
of God, were requisite to guard the purity of the faith 
once delivered to the saints. The measures now in 
operation to fortify the walls of sect, need not be speci- 
fied in this place, especially as they are distinctly seen 
by every observer of what is doing in the church. They 
have been prompted by the fear of disaster, from the very 
events and operations which we hail as the earnests of 
approaching deliverance for the church from its unholy 
distractions, and of gathering into one the whole family 
of Christ. 

6. We derive stronger encouragement from the union 
of all opposers of religion against whatever deserves the 
name of Christianity. All the hosts of opposition are 
fast combining themselves into one army, to wage war 
against the Lord and his anointed. The church of 
Rome will soon, unless some sudden change occurs in 
the course of things, fold in its embrace Unitarians, Uni- 
versalists, and Infidels. They see, or the malignant 
spirit that impels them sees, that they- are ere long to 
contend with the united church of Christ, which is the 
object of their deadly hatred, and the wrath of the foul ad- 
versary is evidently great, apprehending that his hitherto 
undisturbed sway of the world is short. As the hosts of 
the grand adversary are mustering and concentrating 
their strength ; it must either be in consequence of indi- 
cations perceived by him of a formidable union of the 
army of the Lord Almighty, or it ought to be viewed as 
the signal and call for such a union. 

7. There are evident tokens of a divine influence 



108 



upon the minds of Christians, which will not permit 
them to rest under the present state of unlawful and un- 
natural division in the church. One of the offensive 
forms in which the unchristian character of divisions be- 
tween the followers of Christ is exhibited, is the exclu- 
sion of each other from the table of the Lord, because 
they are not of the same denomination. Some entire 
religious communities have acted upon this exclusive 
practice of close communion for ages, without having 
been disturbed by any doubts of its accordance with the 
Holy Scriptures. This state of the conscience was 
owing entirely to the state of feeling, for it is the want 
of correct religious feelings which has engendered most 
of the speculative or practical heresies which have trou- 
bled the church of Christ. The language of sect to 
every one that believes not and walks not with them in 
all things, is, " Stand by thyself; come not near to me ; 
for I am holier than thou ;" and, when addressing her 
own adherents, says, in reference to all other Christians, 
" Come ye out from among them, my people, and touch 
not the unclean thing." 

But as soon as a spark of that universal love to man- 
kind, which ought to reign in every heart, began to glow 
in the bosoms of Christians in England and America, 
and manifested itself in active efforts to extend the in- 
fluence of the gospel, an assault was made on the throne 
of sect. It was accompanied with a conviction of the 
unscriptural character of the exclusive doctrines that 
had so long been sanctioned by the strenuous supporters 
of sectarian divisions. While Doctor Mason of New- 
York was writing his plea for open communion, with 
the view of proving to his own denomination the duty of 
receiving at their table every Christian of whatever church 



109 



he was a member, Robert Hall, of the Baptist Church in 
England, was preparing his book on the same subject, in 
order to press the same duty on his brethren. These 
two giants in literature and theology were moved at the 
same time toward the same object, each of them being 
entirely ignorant of what the other was doing or purpos- 
ing to do. Both of these publications, powerful and 
conclusive in the principles they advocate, strike a 
deadly blow at the empire of sect; for although the 
authors, forcibly impressed with the utter incompatibility 
with Christian feeling and the constitution of the church, 
of the practice which excludes believers in Christ from 
partaking of his supper at the same table with their 
brethren, aimed only at the establishment of that truth, 
yet the premises upon which their conclusion is based, 
lead irresistibly to the further conclusion that the division 
of the church of Christ into independent sects, is unlaw- 
ful and unconstitutional. That this was the legitimate 
conclusion to be drawn from these books was well un- 
derstood by the discerning of even their own churches, 
and from that time neither of these two authors, good, 
wise, and great men as they truly were, was a favourite 
with his own denomination. The principles established 
in these publications are now operating in the minds of 
Christians on both sides of the Atlantic, and if they are, 
as we verily believe them to be, of the leaven of Christ- 
ianity, they will sooner or later diffuse themselves through 
the whole mass of the Christian church. Their pro- 
gress may for a while be retarded by the opposing in- 
fluences brought against them, but ultimately, if they 
are from God, they must become prevalent. He will 
continue to press upon the minds of his people the truths 
10 



110 



he has commenced to teach them, until they shall be 
understood, believed, and obeyed. 

What other cause will be assigned for the fact, that 
notwithstanding the anxious efforts made to bind more 
fast the cords of sect, there is exhibited in many of the 
books and other productions of the press, on both sides 
of the Atlantic, as well as in the conversations of the 
most exemplary Christians, and every where except in 
assemblies for sectarian purposes, a growing intensity of 
desire that the partition walls in the church of Christ 
may be broken down? Who would not have been as- 
tonished a few years ago, at a public avowal like that 
recently made in the city of Durham, in England, of a 
plan for reuniting all the Protestant churches of Great 
Britain and Ireland, on the broad ground of the Trinity 1 
What meaneth the offer of a premium by a Bible Society 
in one of our own cities at the south, for the best Tract 
on a closer union of Christians in their prayers for the 
spread of the gospel? In our religious newspapers we 
meet with frequent expressions of desire by Christian 
writers of the increase of brotherly love, and for an inti- 
mate union among the friends of God. Many of the 
published sermons of the day breathe the same spirit. 
They do not indeed advocate the abolition of sects, but 
they notwithstanding present us with strong evidence of 
an increasing uneasiness in the minds of Christians, un- 
der the existing divisions of the church. Two recent 
publications of an exalted Christian character do expli- 
citly express the conviction of the authors, that the 
church ought to be restored to its original unity, and in- 
timate their belief that the work is practicable. We 
would also mention another most important fact which 



Ill 



may not be known to many among even general readers. 
One branch of theological study in the university of 
Leipsic is Irenics, (things relating to peace and tran- 
quillity,) the ultimate aim in which is the union of all 
sects and parties. How shall we account for all these 
indications, otherwise than by admitting the fact that 
the spirit of unity is at work on the hearts of God's 
people 1 

8. Another encouragement of a somewhat different 
character, is presented in the increase of general know- 
ledge and its diffusion among the people. Much has 
been done of late in this country, but more has been 
done we apprehend in Great Britain, in this department 
of benevolence. Yaluable improvements are now in 
progress which are giving a more universal spread to the 
blessings of intellectual improvement, and are greatly 
elevating the standard of education. We are happy to 
witness such noble institutions as " The Society for the 
Diffusion of Useful Knowledge," in England ; and we 
hope that our own country will not consent to be left be- 
hind in this race of benevolent effort. The noxious 
plant of sectarian bigotry finds a congenial abode in the 
dark shade of ignorance, but droops and dies in the sun- 
shine of intellectual improvement. The influence of 
knowledge to liberate the mind from the narrowness of 
sectarian prejudice, is the more apparent when we ad- 
vert to the fact, that among pious laymen it is very rare 
to find a man who has acquired extensive information, 
and yet sets a high value upon the peculiarities of the 
denomination to which he may belong. But among the 
clergy this incongruity discovers itself more frequently ; 
and this, when it does occur, may be attributed to his 
peculiar disposition, or the circumstances in which the. 



112 



individual is placed. He may be naturally or from habit 
rigid or intolerant. His domestic or theological educa- 
tion and training may have been of a very exclusive 
character, and the scene of his labours may not have 
presented a favourable opportunity, or may have failed 
to improve his facilities for acquiring a more liberal cast 
of mind. He may be the pastor of a people who under 
a former incumbent have drunk in a sectarian spirit, and 
he may, through lack of firmness or some other cause, 
have become moulded into their views, instead of having 
ameliorated their state of mind ; or it may be that he oc- 
cupies a position in which the whole of his influence and 
consequence or emolument depends upon his being a 
high-toned partizan. But, as a general proposition, how 
easy is it at the present moment to gather into one so- 
ciety Christians whose minds are enlarged with general 
information ; how much more are they now one in heart, 
counsel, and action, than those whose limited knowledge 
contracts their minds and precludes the entrance of 
liberal views and feelings. " Light in the understand- 
ing is the source of all reformations, the detector of all 
evils and abuses, the corrector of all errors and miscon- 
ceptions." And " knowledge and liberality of sentiment 
almost uniformly go hand in hand." 

9. All these indications, it is true, may fail, and we 
should not derive so much encouragement from them 
as we do, had we not " a more sure word of prophecy," 
of which we hope the accomplishment is near at hand, 
and the day of its fulfilment dawning upon the world. 
The fields seem to be whitening for the promised har- 
vest. The fold of Christ is now broken into numerous 
divisions, but the time must again return when there 
shall be but one fold, as there is but one shepherd. The 



113 



church of Christ is now rent into parties, that envy and 
vex one the other, as Judah and Ephraim of old ; but 
the time must come when Ephraim shall not envy Judah, 
and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. The watchmen 
on the walls of Zion are now, in the divided state of the 
church, each one speaking with his own trumpet, and 
oftentimes with the trumpet of contention and war ; but 
the period must come when the sweet sounds of the 
gospel shall proceed harmoniously from all the preachers 
of that gospel, for thus saith the Lord of his church ; 
" Her watchmen shall lift up the voice, and with the 
voice together shall they sing ; for they shall see eye to 
eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion." The in- 
tercessory prayer of the Saviour is itself virtually a pro- 
phecy; for the Father always heareth him, and will per- 
form his request ; and he asks " that they all may be one 
as we are one." Hath the Lord spoken, and shall he 
not do it ? It is also foretold that in the happy state of 
the world which is coming, "they shall beat their 
swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning 
hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, 
neither shall they learn war any more." And again, 
" The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard 
shall lie down with the kid." " They shall not hurt or 
destroy in all my holy mountain." These and other 
prophecies of the like tenour are by some interpreted to 
apply to the church ; but admitting that to be doubtful, 
can it be believed that the nations and the world of 
mankind out of the church will sheathe the sword of 
war and contention, while the church shall remain the 
victim of controversy and division ? Will the world be 
reformed before the church 1 Then we may not call 
Christians the salt of the earth, but the ivorld is the salt 
10* 



114 



of the church, and the city set on a hill, and the leaven 
to be diffused through the mass of believers. If the 
pacification of the world is to be effected by the children 
of God, is it to be supposed that they will exert their 
influence to hush the world into peace, and make no 
effort to establish peace and union in the church 1 A 
peace society for abolishing the practice of war has in- 
deed been formed, and it has in its composition the 
spirit of Christianity, and embodies many of the best 
friends of religion ; but while we express our fears that 
little will be effected towards stopping the effusion of 
blood, while war or division is raging in the bosom of 
the church, yet do we view the formation of this society 
as the earnest, with the means that are already in ope- 
ration to restore, or the tendencies already in motion 
towards restoring union among Christians, that the reign 
of sectarianism is short. 

The Lord has not uttered his prophecies with the 
view of exciting expectations which he does not intend 
to fulfil. He will perform all his promises, and verify 
all his predictions. 

Yes, we can already perceive that the way is prepar- 
ing for the Lord to bless the effort to collect his scattered 
friends, and encompass them with the bond of heavenly 
love, and clothe them with the beauty and strength of 
unity. The flight of the lottery system, upon the bare 
exposure of its evils, and the deep wounds exhibited by 
the monster intemperance, almost as soon as he was 
touched with the spear of truth, are the earnests of what 
God is waiting to do, as soon as his people are willing 
to act for the purification of his church from the evils 
that oppress her. 

In fact, the throne of sect is evidently affected with 



115 



the symptoms of old age, and showing the marks of de- 
caying power. Sect cannot breath the atmosphere of 
the nineteenth century, and is now employed in the 
vain attempt to generate by artificial means the atmos- 
phere of a by-gone age, in which alone it can continue to 
live. Yea, if our vision does not deceive us, the flame 
is already kindled, which the breath of the Almighty 
will soon blow into so bright a blaze, that the dark age 
of sect will retire from it, as the shadows of night flee 
away on the approach of the sun. 



116 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE MEANS OF RESTORING THE UNITY OP 
THE CHURCH. 



1. Confession of the sin of division, and asking forgiveness of 
God for our own sin and the sin of our fathers. — Why confess 
the sin of our fathers ? Scriptural examples, and divine precept 
on the subject, and the reason of the requirement. 2. Ceasing 
from unprofitable controversy. 3. Returning to scriptural princi- 
ples in licensing ministers and receiving church members. 4. Che- 
rishing love to Christians of every denomination. 5. Labouring 
to elevate the standard of piety. 6. Encouraging the benevolent 
associations of the day. 7. Returning to the primitive mode of 
reading the Bible. 8. Cherishing the spirit of prayer appropriate 
to the times. 

The violation of the unity of the church has brought 
upon her a train of evils which is incalculable ; and, as 
certainly as the words of the Saviour are true, that a 
house divided against itself shall not stand, so surely will 
the divisions of the church, unless healed, work out her 
destruction. But there is hope that the time of applying 
an adequate remedy is near. The Lord, in his wise 
providence, sometimes permits an evil to proceed to 
extremities, in order more deeply to affect the hearts of 



117 



his people, and to throw upon them the necessity of de- 
vising measures for a more radical reformation than 
would otherwise have been thought of. By such per- 
mission, he convinces men of the dreadful consequen- 
ces of departing from his law ; shows them their entire 
dependence upon him for light and strength, and con- 
strains them, in the agony of their souls, to cry out, 
Help Lord, or we perish. In this way he prepares his 
wayward children to return to the path of obedience 
to his commands, and to follow the intimations of his 
providence. It was so in regard to the giant evil of in- 
temperance. It had grown, and like the evil of division, 
it had grown with the countenance and co-operation of 
Christians, into such magnitude as to threaten speedily to 
sweep the church as with the besom of destruction from 
the earth. The friends of God then directed their eyes 
to him, and beseeching him in the earnestness of their 
souls to save his church and the world, asked him what 
must we do to stop the torrent of desolation 1 He heard 
their prayer, pointed to the principle of total abstinence, 
and has clothed that principle with a power which has 
excited the astonishment of the world. 

The only remedy for the evils of sect, is the restora- 
tion of the church to its original unity. This reunion 
cannot be effected in a day, nor in a year. To propose 
an immediate amalgamation of all sects, under present 
discordant feelings and prejudices, would be unwise ; 
it would be madness. The time has not come, — merely 
because the church is not prepared. She ought to be 
prepared now, but she is not, and never will be with- 
out the employment of means adapted to the end. The 
way may indeed be prepared without the agency of man, 
with the purpose of accomplishing it ; for God may per- 



118 



mit the principle of division to pursue the course of its 
own tendency, until every sect is dissolved to its very 
elements, and then, what believers shall be left remain- 
ing, may be glad to unite on any terms, to enjoy the 
public ordinances of religion. But must we wait until the 
church is dissolved, and then begin to collect the elements 
and organize the church anew 1 Or is it our duty to 
employ the means in our power to save the church from 
dissolution 1 The Lord may, if it please him, without 
the use of human means, and without first permitting 
the church to be destroyed, dispose its members to re- 
store its original unity ; but this is not the ordinary mode 
of his operations. Whatever is wrong in the church, he 
requires of his people to see and reform. And will not 
excuse their neglect induced by their expectation that 
God will bring all things right without their agency. 

Before we specify the means to be pursued in order 
to effect, the reunion of the church, we beg leave to 
impress on our Christian readers the necessity of coming 
to a decision on the great and important points which 
we have discussed, of the unity of the church, and the 
unlawfulness and evils of division. While the minds of 
Christians are undecided on these subjects, we despair of 
any thing being done towards accomplishing the desired 
object. We have not the vanity to believe that the dis- 
cussion contained in this work will be satisfactory to 
many minds whose own reflections had not previously 
brought them to the same conclusions. All we have 
hoped is that we may succeed in awakening a measure of 
attention in the Christian community, and induce some, 
perhaps many, to examine for themselves whether these 
things are so. If upon examination they find that we 
have the truth on our side, we may claim, and do claim 



119 



of our Christian brethren that they give it their full and 
cordial assent, to whatever results the admission of the 
truth may lead them. This request we know to be rea- 
sonable, and we cannot consent to have it refused. 

We further beg of them not to be appalled by the dif- 
ficulties and discouragements that may lie in the way of 
the proposed reformation. Ne cede malis, is a maxim 
of the ancients ; and we believe the assertion may be 
made with perfect safety, that there is a remedy pro- 
vided in the goodness and wisdom of God, for all the 
evils which afflict the church, and press her into the 
dust. Had Luther yielded to the difficulties which ob- 
structed his course, in breaking away from the tyranny 
and abominations of popery, the reformation would 
never have been effected. If the spirit of Howard had 
sunk under a view of the appalling obstacles in the way 
of ameliorating the condition of prisons, his philanthropic 
feelings would have died in his own bosom, and the world 
would not at this day be blessed with the wonderful impro- 
vements which have been made in prison discipline. Had 
the advocates of emancipation and of temperance shrunk 
back from their work, at the view of the powerful impe- 
diments in their way, the chains of slavery would to this 
day have been as strong as ever, and the tide of intem- 
perance would now have rolled unchecked and unresis- 
ted over the land. If the friends of civil liberty shall 
once yield to the conviction that the rod of the oppres- 
sor is too strong to be broken, then indeed shall the 
world be doomed to wear the chains of perpetual despo- 
tism. So if the friends of the church shall sit down in 
despondency, and refuse to move, because there is a 
lion in the way, then may we expect, speedily to hear 
the shout of victory from the opposers of religion. But 



120 



we hope for better things ; and cannot permit ourselves 
to believe that the spirit which has been already enkind- 
led in the bosoms of some, will fail to support them in 
their conflict with the difficulties that may lie in the way 
of re-establishing the church upon its constitutional basis. 
Obstacles equally formidable have been removed in 
other schemes of benevolence, and many which at first 
appeared appalling, have melted away at the bare touch 
of Christian fortitude. 

I. The first act which, in our view, it would be pro- 
per for the church to perform, is humbly to confess the 
sin of division, and ask the forgiveness of God. 

We cannot hope for any important reformation in the 
church, without a strong feeling of obligation on the part 
of her friends, to be active instruments in the hand of 
the Lord, to carry on the work which is required. This 
sense of obligation will not be realized, in the case be- 
fore us, without a conviction of personal guilt, at all 
events of being partakers in the guilt of suffering the evil 
to continue in our own day. Who of us can plead not 
guilty to the charge of being at least accessory to the 
evils of division 1 We have all done more or less to 
countenance and uphold the dissentions that are tearing 
the body of our blessed Saviour in pieces. We cannot 
throw the whole guilt of division upon our ancestors, 
who first departed from the unity which ought to have 
remained for ever inviolate, any more than the present 
generation of slave holders can throw the whole guilt of 
slavery upon those who first introduced slaves into this 
country ; or than the descendants of Adam can fix the 
whole guilt of the apostate condition of mankind upon 
him. " The Lord our God is a jealous God, visiting 



121 



the iniquities of the fathers upon the children," from 
generation to generation. The children may obtain re- 
lief from such visitations, if they repent of their sins, 
and return to the path of duty required of them. God 
threatens the people of Israel, in case they should dis- 
obey his laws, to scatter them among the nations, 
and to leave them few in number among the heathen. 
"But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, 
thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart, 
and with all thy soul. When thou art in tribulation, 
and all these things are come upon thee, even in the 
latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, ... he will 
not forsake thee." And after having denounced against 
the same people the most awful curses in case of their 
disobedience, he adds, " when all these things are come 
upon thee, and thou shall return unto the Lord thy God, 
and obey his voice, according to all that I command 
thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thy heart 
and with all thy soul, then the Lord thy God will have 
compassion upon thee .... he will do thee good, and 
multiply thee above thy fathers, and will circumcise thy 
heart and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy 
God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, that thou 
mayestlive." Deut. xxx. 

Whoever may have been first in the transgression 
which has placed us in a condition that is morally wrong, 
it is our duty to escape from that condition without de- 
lay. And as we are not afflicted for the sins of our 
fathers without some participation in the guilt, we are 
bound to make acknowledgement to God, and implore 
his forgiveness. We must, besides, exert ourselves to 
undo what is wrong, for this is the only true test of sin- 
cere repentance. It will not avail us to lament the evils 
11 



122 



of division, unless we resolve to employ the faculties 
God has given us, and the means within our reach, for 
removing them. While, therefore, the moral evil which 
commenced with our fathers, continues to the days of 
their children, the guilt of the past and present genera- 
tion becomes (so to speak) commingled, involving both 
in one common transgression, for which the displesure 
of God is continued until the offence be removed. It 
was upon this ground that Josiah, king of Judah, when 
he heard the words of the law which had well nigh been 
forgotten, rent his clothes, and exclaimed, " Great is 
the wrath of the Lord against us, because our fathers 
have not hearkened unto the words of this book." And 
God, by his prophetess, tells Josiah, " I will bring evil 
upon this place and upon the inhabitants thereof, be- 
cause they have forsaken me." While Josiah confesses 
the guilt of the present inhabitants of Judah, as well as 
the guilt of their fathers, God denounces his wrath 
against the present generation, for continuing in the 
transgression of their fathers. Josiah turned to the 
Lord with all his heart and with all his soul ; he evinced 
the sincerity of his repentance, by immediately setting 
about the work of reformation, and he received for him- 
self the forgiveness of God. The people seem to have 
given only a feigned concurrence with the pious efforts 
of their king, and to have persevered in the evil course 
in which Manas seh, their former king, had been very 
conspicuous ; for it is recorded, " The Lord turned not 
from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his 
anger was kindled" against Judah, because of all the 
provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal." 
And accordingly, we find that Judah soon after became 
tributary to the king of Egypt. 2 kings, xxii. xxiii. 



123 



But when, in the days of Asa, who reigned some time 
previous to Josiah, the people sought the Lord their 
God with all their heart, with all their soul, and with 
their whole desire, and seconded their king in restoring 
obedience to the commands of God, the Lord was 
found of them, and gave them rest round about. 2 
Chron. xv. 

A great reformation was likewise brought about in 
the reign of Hezekiah. That was also commenced with 
confession of sins, with supplications for pardon, and 
the aversion of God's wrath. Hezekiah addressing the 
levites says, " Our fathers have trespassed, and done 
that which is evil in the eyes of the Lord ; . . . wherefore 
the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah .... Now, there- 
fore, it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord 
God of Israel, that his fierce anger may be turned away 
from us." And he exhorts the priests and levites to di- 
ligence in the work of reformation required of them. 
Also in the letters of invitation to the solemn passover 
which was afterwards held, he says, "Ye children of 
Israel, turn again unto the Lord God ; . . . and be not 
like your fathers, and like your brethren which trespas- 
sed against the Lord ; . . . . but yield yourselves to the 
Lord, . . . that the fierceness of his anger may turn away 
from you." The priest and the people entered with the 
heart upon this work of reform, and their prayers were 
heard, and the blessing of God descended and rested 
upon them. 2 Chron. xxix. xxx. xxxi. When, at an- 
other time, Ezra became acquainted with the unlawful 
intermarriages of his Jewish brethren with the heathen, 
and learned that the hand of the rulers and princes had 
been chief in the trespass, he rent his garment and his 
mantle, plucked off the hair of his head and his beard, 



124 



and sat down astonished. He fell upon his knees, and 
spread out his hands unto the Lord, and said, " I am 
ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God ; 
for our iniquities are increased over our heads, and our 
trespass is grown up unto the heavens. Since the days 
of our fathers, have we been in a great trespass, even 
unto this day." He repeats the command of God upon 
that subject, and confesses the manner in which it had 
been broken, and the justice of God's displeasure and 
wrath against the people. He evinced the sincerity of 
his humiliation, by instantly commencing the work of 
reform, and persevered therein until it was completed. 

It is always an unpleasant office to charge guilt upon 
our fellow Christians, even when we confess our own 
share in it ; doubly unpleasant is it in a layman to prefer 
a charge including ministers of the gospel, who are en- 
titled to respect and reverence for their superior know- 
ledge and piety, and the sanctity of their office ; it is still 
more unpleasant to prefer a charge of guilt against our 
parents and ancestors, whom we are in the habit of re- 
membering with the greatest reverence. But we find 
that the martyr Stephen, who was full of the Holy Ghost, 
did not hesitate to declare the truth to his countrymen,* 
members of the Jewish church, including the elders, the 
scribes, the high-priest, and even their ancestors, — "Ye 
do always resist the Holy Ghost, as your fathers did r so 
do ye." Acts vii. 51. And the Saviour himself brings 
one common charge of guilt against the Jews and their 
fathers. Matt, xxiii. 32. Luke xi. 47, 48. It is not in- 
tended to assert that we and our fathers, guilty as we 
are and have been of the sin of schism, are chargeable 
as were the Jews of enmity against God or the truth. 
Far from it ; but all sin is odious in the sight of God, the 



125 



sins of his children as well as those of his enemies ; the 
sin of David as well as the sin of Saul ; and both alike 
deserve the displeasure of God, and require humble con- 
fession with prayer for pardon. 

But what is it to us, it may be asked, that our fathers 
in the church have sinned as well as we ourselves, by 
living in a state of sectarian division? The question 
might be answered by inquiring why Asa, and Josiah, 
and Hezekiah confessed the sins of their fathers as well 
as their own, and why the Saviour and Stephen did not 
content themselves with charging sin only on their own 
contemporaries] Neither of these, surely, were defi- 
cient in respect for the dead, and especially for their own 
deceased ancestors. Another answer may be found in 
Leviticus xxvi. where the Lord having warned the chil- 
dren of Israel, that in case they shall despise his statutes, 
so that they would not do all his commandments, he 
would send upon them plagues and judgements, and de- 
solations, so that they should pinexiway in their iniquity, 
and also in the iniquity of their fathers ; he yet adds a 
gracious promise of relief and restoration, "If they shall 
confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, 
with their trespass which they have trespassed against 
me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me, 
and that I have also walked contrary unto them." The 
Psalmist acts up to this requirement, when deprecating 
God's wrath from Israel, he says, "We have sinned 
with our fathers." Ps. cvi. 6. The God of Israel could 
take no pleasure in hearing the accusation of children 
against their progenitors ; but he knows the hearts of 
men that they are deceitful above all things ; he knows 
the proneness of his fallen creatures to justify their own 
delinquencies and transgressions, by pleading the exam- 
11* 



126 

pies of their fathers. He foresaw that where the same 
transgression should have continued from age to age, 
not only the natural respect the children have for their 
fathers, but their disposition to justify themselves in 
their own course of conduct when sanctioned by the 
example of their ancestors, would be sufficient to stifle 
any inceptive conviction of sin which might come upon 
them. He knew they would be reluctant to accuse 
their fathers even in their own minds, that they would 
desire to justify them, and if they should be able to be- 
lieve that the fathers were right, it must follow that the 
children doing only the same things must themselves be 
free from the imputation of guilt. Had not God made 
it necessary for the Israelites to confess the sins of their 
fathers as well as their own, how easy would it have 
been for the subjects of Asa, of Josiah, and Hezekiah, 
as also the cotemporaries of Ezra and Nehemiah, (see 
JN"eh. ix. 3,) to have stopped the mouths of these re- 
formers by telling them, " in charging us with sin, you 
accuse our fathers also, for we are walking in their 
steps ;" and thus the attention of the people would have 
been drawn from their own sin, to the supposed impiety 
of those who irreverently accused their progenitors 
of having been wicked transgressors of God's law. 
God therefore has wisely required, in order to break 
one of the strongest cords which holds men to their 
sins, that where the fathers and children have been in- 
volved in the same transgression, those who desire to 
evince their repentance and receive forgiveness, must 
confess the sins of their fathers as well as their own. 
Not that God cannot or will not pardon the true penitent 
when he confesses and forsakes his own sin, but he 
knows that there can scarcely be a deep conviction of 



127 



guilt, or an honest disposition to make confession of it* 
without a willingness to honour God by an acknow- 
ledgement of the whole truth, whoever may be impli- 
cated with the transgressor in the sin he confesses. The 
value of this requirement was evident not only in the 
instances already alluded to of Ezra and others, but 
also in the time of the Saviour, when the Jews had 
wrapped themselves in a complete panoply of self-justi- 
fication, impenitence, and unbelief, by pleading the tra- 
ditions of the elders and the examples of their ancestors 
in whose steps they trod, and to whose opinions they 
adhered ; and for this reason it may be that Jesus Christ 
and Stephen bring their fathers under the same condem- 
nation with their descendants. 

The propriety of the divine requirement, that the 
children should confess the sins of their fathers as well 
as their own, where they are involved in the same trans- 
gression, is strikingly exemplified in the state of feeling 
actually existing among the various denominations of 
the church at the present time. Each has its long list 
of ancients, who have contended for the same doctrines, 
practised the same rites, advocated the same form of 
church government, and sanctioned the same principle 
of division. Until we admit the errors of our fathers, 
how can we feel a deep conviction of our own, or make 
a full and honest confession of our guilt. Is it intimated 
to us that we are living in a state of unlawful division ? 
or do our own reflections, while reading or meditating 
on the word of God, make the same suggestion to our 
minds'? we instantly and instinctively answer, " We walk 
in the steps of our fathers ; they were wise and holy 
men ; and we have no disposition to charge them with 
having violated the constitution of the church, nor do we 



128 



pretend to be wiser or better than they." It is much 
easier to defend what is wrong, by pleading the exam- 
ples of our fathers, than it is to defend it on the princi- 
ples of reason. Says one of our missionaries in India, 
" Were I to preach for five days to an assembly of com- 
mon people, and with the strength of argument and the 
earnestness of Paul, the whole impression which I should 
be likely to make, might be done away by a single word 
from a Brahmin, who should ask them, if they were going 
to give up the religion of their fathers." And thus we 
make our respect for the dead the cloak to cover our 
own sins, and to stifle all inquiry concerning them. 
How many are there of professing Christians as well as 
others, who act the same unfaithful part toward God and 
themselves in regard to the temperance reformation! 
They refuse to give any ear to the call of total absti- 
nence, comforting themselves in that they have the ex- 
ample of their good and wise fathers to countenance the 
habitual use of distilled liquors. We have reason to 
thank our merciful God that he has inclined some in the 
spirit of scriptural requirement to confess that we and 
our fathers have grievously sinned in this thing. How 
much of the success of the temperance reformation is to 
be attributed to this confession, is known to Him who 
requires confession to be made in this form. 

Christian brethren, let God be true and every man a 
liar. Let us deal honestly with God, with the church, 
and our own consciences. We and our fathers are 
verily guilty of violating the constitutional unity of the 
church, of rending the body of Christ asunder, and 
thereby emphatically crucifying him afresh in the house 
of his friends ; of cherishing the spirit of controversy, 
contention, jealousy, envy, and hatred among the mem- 



129 



bers of God's household ; of fostering the spirit of party 
pride, bigotry, and intolerance ; of grieving the Holy 
Spirit by our divisions and contentions ; of perpetuating 
errors of doctrine, and closing the door against any 
general reformation in the church ; guilty of strengthen- 
ing the hands of opposers, of retarding the latter day 
glory ; yea, of weakening the church, and bringing it 
near the verge of desolation. We of this generation are 
indeed more guilty than our fathers. They had not the 
evidence which we have of the evils of division, nor had 
they the favourable time which we enjoy for reflection. 
We have been and are busily employed in repairing, 
strengthening, and raising higher the partition walls, 
which God was crumbling down and evidently indicates 
his design to demolish. It surely becomes us to adopt 
the language of Daniel in his memorable confession re- 
corded in the ninth chapter of his prophecy. " We have 
sinned and committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, 
and have rebelled even by departing Trom thy precepts 
and from thy judgements . . . . O Lord, to us belongeth 
confusion of face . . and to our fathers, because we have 
sinned against thee. Yea all Israel have transgressed 
thy law, even by departing that they might not obey thy 
voice .... and he hath confirmed his words which he 
spake against us ... by bringing upon us a great evil . . . 
Yet we made not our prayer before the Lord our God, 
that we might turn from our iniquities and understand 
thy truth. Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the 
evil and brought it upon us ; for the Lord our God is 
righteous in all the works which he doeth, for we obeyed 
not his voice Lord, according to all thy right- 
eousness, I beseech thee let thine anger and thy fury be 
turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy moim- 



130 



tain; because for our sins and the sins of our fathers, 
Jerusalem and thy people have become a reproach to 
all that are about us .... my God, incline thine' ear 
and hear ; open thine eyes and behold our desolations, 
and the city which is called by thy name, for we do not 
present our supplications before thee for our righteous- 
ness, but for thy great mercies ; Lord, hear ; Lord 
hearken and do ; defer not for thine own sake, my 
God; for thy city and thy people are called by thy 
name." Daniel ix. 5 — 19. All Scripture is given by in 
spiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for re- 
proof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. 
How appropriate is this prayer of the prophet to the pre- 
sent condition of the church of Christ, and how becom- 
ing to its members would be the deep humility which he 
manifests in his confessions of the sins of the people and 
their fathers ; of their unworthiness, and his appeals to 
the mercy of God, and his regard for the city and people 
that were called after his own name. 

Independently of the preceding considerations, it be- 
comes the church to cherish the spirit of humility. The 
passage of Scripture, God resisteth the proud, but giv- 
eth grace unto the humble, though often quoted, fails, 
we fear, of making its legitimate impression upon our 
hearts. The spirit of party is the spirit of pride, and 
while it is fostered by the contentions of varying sects, 
it diffuses itself more or less through all the affairs of the 
church, even those with which sectarian feelings have 
apparently little or nothing to do. It seems quite diffi- 
cult to frame the narrative of a revival of religion, or of 
some good measure of success that has followed the 
labours of a Missionary, without exhibiting or illy con- 
cealing something of a boastful spirit, either as it regards 



131 



the instrument employed, or as it regards the denomina- 
tion, or the party in the subdivision of the denomination 
to which he belongs. We would not wish to repress a 
single emotion of joy over one sinner that repenteth, but 
let not this joy be mingled with the unholy feelings of 
selfish or sectarian exultation, nor make us unmindful of 
the slowness of the actual progress of religion and the 
numbers and power of the enemies of true godliness. A 
glowing narrative of success by one denomination or 
society, may provoke a coloured representation of facts 
by another which is its rival. These contests, so to 
name them, must be very offensive to God, as - they are 
the derision of t\ie enemies of religion. They must in 
their effects retard the ultimate success of the gospel, 
and keep alive the unholy passions of party pride on one 
side and of jealousy and envy on the other. The tri- 
umphs of temperance, even, have been sung in too high 
a strain of exultation. Christian brethren, let us not 
conceal the truth from ourselves and others ; we cannot 
conceal it from our God, nor can we alter the actual 
state of things by- putting a veil over our own eyes or the 
eyes of our fellow men. The number of professed fol- 
lowers of Christ has indeed greatly increased of late 
years ; but what progress has been made in producing 
the fruits of the spirit, peaceableness, gentleness, bro- 
therly love, honesty, purity, sobriety, moderation, meek- 
ness, self-denial, and humility ? Party zeal may swell 
the number of nominal converts, but party zeal cannot 
ensure the production of the fruits of the spirit in those 
who are baptized in the name of the party. Let us con- 
fess and feel that the standard of piety is low, notwith- 
standing the great numbers that have been added to the 
various divisions of the church. Indeed we are over- 



132 

loaded with nominal professors of religion, under which 
many denominations groan and are sorely burdened, in- 
somuch that Christianity has become so much amalga- 
mated with the world, that the world cannot discern the 
difference between themselves and Christians, and it 
requires much of that charity which hopeth all things to 
support the actual friends of Christ in the belief that the 
greater portion of what is gathered into the garner is not 
chaff. The cause of foreign missions progresses, in- 
deed, but how little has been done ! The cause of do- 
mestic missions and of tracts is advancing, yet little is 
accomplished in comparison with the power of the 
Christian community. The enemy are collecting their 
forces and uniting their energies. In a very few years 
we may see infidels, universalists, heretics of every de- 
scription, the sceptic and the hater of religion making 
common cause with the church of Rome, to trample 
every protestant denomination in the dust. The divided, 
distracted state of protestant Christians, one envying 
and opposing the other, will make them an easy prey to 
such numerous and powerful foes as seem preparing to 
unite against them. Surely it becomes all who love the 
Lord Jesus Christ to walk softly and humbly under pre- 
sent circumstances and indications. 

We presume the reader has not failed to see the bear- 
ing of the measure we have just recommended, upon the 
object sought to be accomplished. Without the blessing 
and help of God the evil of schism will never be remov- 
ed ; and he has appointed self-abasement and confession 
as one of the indispensable means of procuring his par- 
don of the sin, and strength to recover from its delete- 
rious effects. Besides, the frame of mind pre-supposed 
in making sincere acknowledgement of guilt, is of 



133 
primary importance to prepare men for salutary effort. 

II. Let Christians cease from unprofitable contro- 
versy. 

Were the followers of Christ duly convinced of the 
unlawfulness and evils of division, and of the guilt con- 
sequently resting upon them ; were they humbled under 
a sense of the low standard of piety, and of the danger 
of still greater depression, arising from the multitude of 
worldly professors constantly increasing through the ef- 
forts of party zeal ; and were they fully aware of the 
crisis which seems impending from the signs of a speedy 
union of all the enemies of the church, they would 
surely be willing to give a truce to all hostilities against 
their own friends and natural allies. They would ab- 
stain from all unprofitable controversy, tending to keep 
alive the remembrance and the feeling of opposition 
between brethren of the same household of faith. How 
long shall we continue to agitate doubtful and perplexing 
subjects, which have been controverted for centuries or 
ages, and which remain as far from being settled as 
ever 1 ? Think you that Jesus Christ can be pleased 
with those endless and diversified disputes which alien- 
ate the hearts of his people from each other, and pre- 
vent them from living on terms of brotherly love and 
unity ? How do Presbyterians like the controversy now 
carried on between the disciples of the old and new school, 
and the disputes respecting new men and new mea- 
sures, which disquiet that denomination, and threaten 
to tear it asunder? Are the Congregationalists any 
better pleased with the profitless discussions between 
the disciples of Taylor and his antagonists ? How do 
the Episcopalians relish the disputes between high 
12 



134 



churchmen and low churchmen; and the Methodists 
and Baptists those which are distracting their denomina- 
tions 1 We ask not how the parties who are employed 
and whose feelings are engaged in these disputations 
relish them, for the sound of the trumpet of war is 
always grateful to the soldier who pants for honour or 
victory in the field of battle ; but we ask how do these 
dissentions affect the hearts of those who would gladly 
see their brethren of the same denomination walk to- 
gether in love and unity, and who deprecate a schism in 
their body as a deplorable calamity I Of such we doubt 
not there are many in every division of the protestant 
church ; and to such we say, depend upon it, brethren, 
that Jesus Christ is as desirous of preserving peace and 
unity among all his followers, as you are to preserve these 
blessings in your own religious community ; and he is 
as much displeased with any controversy which produ- 
ces or continues schisms in his body consisting of all 
believers, as you are with those disputations which dis- 
tract your own denomination. No matter whether 
these endless controversies are kept up in books, maga- 
zines, newspapers, or tracts, or in the pulpit, the lecture- 
room, or the family, they are all, as we verily believe, 
highly displeasing to the great Head of the church, who 
desires all his people to be one, and to be of the same 
mind, and to speak the same thing, and who has given 
us, in the Holy Scripture, abundant store of doctrines 
and precepts in which all Christians are substantially 
agreed, and which are able to make all wise unto sal- 
vation. 

Let these disputations cease, at least until Christians 
shall have recovered from those sectarian feelings so 
unfavourable to the exercise of an impartial judgement 



135 



upon the truths of God's word, which are the subjects 
of controversy ; and if they shall then appear of suffi- 
cient importance, let the discussions be renewed in the 
spirit of brotherly love, and honest inquiry after the 
truth. Let there be peace, at least now, among the 
soldiers of Christ, while the hosts of our natural enemies 
are thickening upon us, and when we have so much to 
do, to fortify the position of the church, as well as to 
carry the war into the enemies' country. Baxter, in 
his Saints Rest, quotes from another, " that the lovers of 
controversy have never been warmed with one spark of 
the love of God." Though we do not unite in the senti- 
ment, we cannot forbear to express the opinion that it is 
plainly a mistaken application of intellectual power to em- 
ploy it, at the present time, in polemical disputations, 
calculated to widen or keep open the breaches between 
God's people. This, we have reason to believe, is felt 
by numbers who are sighing for the peace of Jerusalem, 
and who fully respond to the sentiment expressed by the 
late Mrs. Hannah More : " My very soul," said she, 
"is sick of religious controversy. How I hate the little 
narrowing names of Arminian and Calvinist. Christia- 
nity is a broad basis. Bible Christianity is what I love ; 
that does not insist on opinions indifferent in themselves 
— a Christianity practical and pure, which teaches holi- 
ness, humility, repentance and faith in Christ; and 
which, after summing up all the evangelical graces, de- 
clares that the greatest of these is charity." 

Should there be a much longer continuance of the 
controversies that are now carried on in the church, the 
danger is that men will presently turn away in disgust 
from the discussion of any doctrine in the Bible. In- 
deed it is doubtful whether this feeling does not already, 



136 

in some measure, begin to prevail. This would be a 
serious evil, prejudicial to the cause of truth, but it 
would ill become the lovers of controversy to complain 
of it, when they are themselves the authors of the evil. 

The tendency of Christianity is to peace and unity. 
Controversy is the aliment of sectarian feelings. It is 
evident, therefore, that the bare cessation from unprofi- 
table disputation, must act directly upon the restoration 
of Christian union. 

III. Let us return to scriptural principles, in licen- 
sing ministers, and receiving members into the church. 

When these sectarian controversies shall have sub- 
sided, which, as it is intimated by Mr. Abbott, in his 
Young Christian, (a popular and excellent work) are 
mostly on speculative points, not touching the essential 
doctrines of Christianity, nor the important duties we 
owe to God and our fellow men, it will be easy to intro- 
duce into the churches a more catholic principle in li- 
censing ministers of the gospel, and in the reception of 
members. A candidate for the ministry ought to be 
measured by the standard of scriptural qualifications, 
and not by rules of human invention. He may not be 
rejected because he cannot pronounce the shibboleths of 
party. If he gives evidence of his love to God and pre- 
cious souls, he Ought not to be required to give proof of 
his attachment to any particular denomination of Chris- 
tians. If he show a capacity to win souls to Christ, and 
edify believers, who has the right to inquire how far he 
will advance the interests of any sect ? If he be quali- 
fied to preach to Christians of one sect, he is qualified 
to preach to Christians of every sect. If he be not qua- 
lified to preach for eyery denomination, he is not quali- 



137 



fied to preach for any. If he may be lawfully refused 
by a bishop or presbytery under the banners of Paul, he 
ought not to be licensed to preach in the sect of Apollos ; 
for Christ is not divided. If he believes the essential 
doctrines of Christianity, confessing the faith once deli- 
vered to the saints, he ought not to be required to sub- 
scribe to every article of any human creed. Any man or 
body of men assuming the right to license ministers of 
the gospel, who proceed on any other principles than 
these, depart from the example of Christ and his apos- 
tles, however faithfully they may adhere to rules of 
human invention. They act not on the ground of the 
Scriptures, but adopt a standard erected by fallible men, 
violating the principles of the Bible. They refuse li- 
censes to men whom the Saviour and his apostles, and 
the primitive Christians would not have hesitated to li- 
cense. They act on principles which, if generally 
adopted, will perpetuate the divisions in the church, and 
render its reunion impossible, and so it will fall an easy 
prey to its enemies. 

In the reception of members into the church, which 
is the household of Christ, the regulations which he has 
established as the head of the family, are to be observed, 
and not any rules which may have been devised by any 
portion of that family, when opposed to, or unwarranted 
by those which he has ordained. He received all who 
believed on him, and who exhibited that the love of 
Christ had been shed abroad in their hearts, by the rege- 
nerating influences of the Holy Ghost. We are war- 
ranted by the Scriptures to reject from the family of 
Christ such as do not exhibit the character of children, 
either in their outward walk, or by denying such of the 
truths of Christianity as that the denial will afford pre- 
12* 



138 



sumplive evidence that the love of Christ is not in them % 
what these doctrines are, there is no difficulty in deter- 
mining from the Scriptures, unless the difficulties arise 
from sectarian prejudices and habits. The apostles and 
their disciples acted on the same principles with the Sa- 
viour himself, and Paul expressly directs the Romans, 
chapter xv. 7, to receive one another, as Christ also 
received them ; and this direction seems to refer to -every 
form of reception which one Christian can give to an- 
other, and not to exclude the manner or spirit in which 
they are to be admitted into the church. The principle 
we advocate is so much in accordance with the entire 
scope of the New Testament, that we need not to be 
solicitous to prove that the passage just quoted has a 
direct reference to the reception of members into the 
church. There is no doubt of the ground on which 
Christ and his apostles, and the primitive Christians ad- 
mitted men to the privileges of membership. They 
were received not because they belonged to Paul, to 
Apollos, or to any party of believers, but simply because 
they were believers in Christ. No suggestions of hu- 
man wisdom, predicated on the divisions actually exist- 
ing in the church, can be of any weight to establish 
new rules of admission, because these divisions are in 
themselves unlawful and inadmissible by the constitution 
of the church. Christ now receives men as his children, 
and will admit them into heaven, although they differ 
from us on minor points of doctrine, rituals, and govern- 
ment. And cannot we receive into the visible church 
those whom we believe Christ receives into the invisible 
church, and will admit into heaven? There is no 
church on earth as holy as heaven, and we cannot be 
sure that those who differ from us now, will, after their 



139 



admission into heaven, be converted to our creed or 
form of worship. It is for the individual believer to 
make his choice of that church of which he will become 
a member, and if he is willing to hold Christian fellow- 
ship with us who differ from him, we ought to be willing 
to hold fellowship with him, although he differs from us. 
We may not thrust him from us because he agrees not 
in all things with us. As he seeks for Christian edifica- 
tion and comfort, in the same portion of Christ's family 
with ourselves, we ought not to treat him as a stranger, 
for he is a child. We must always remember that 
Christ is the head, and not we, of his household ; and 
we have no right to frame rules to exclude one of such 
as he receives, unless we can plead his warrant for the 
measure. 

A return to the primitive scriptural practice of licen- 
sing ministers, and admitting members into the church, 
will place in its proper light the jealousy which is often 
manifested when converts to the faith of Christ find their 
way into some other denomination than our own. If 
indeed their choice of another sect would throw them 
into a den of wolves or tigers, it might be worth much 
anxiety and pains to prevent the calamity ; but if' it be 
in truth a Christian community into which he is received, 
in which he will be fed with the bread of life, though it 
may in our apprehension be not quite so nutricious as 
our own, it seems not to present an occasion of deep 
mourning, and certainly should not awaken in us the 
feelings of jealousy or envy. Were this subject viewed 
in its proper light, we should not witness those efforts 
to electioneer members into churches, which has excit- 
ed the grief of the sober Christian, and the derision of 
the unbeliever ; which has filled the church with nominal 



140 



professors, turned back in disgust many an inquiring 
soul, hardened the hearts of the careless, and given oc- 
casion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. 

Let us be willing to admit that other communities of 
Christians have the same right to claim peculiar excel- 
lencies with ourselves, since they have had and still 
have among them the wise and the good. And while 
the divisions in the church continue, let us leave the 
young convert to choose, without molestation, to what 
denomination he will attach himself in order to enjoy the 
ordinances of God's house, as perhaps he would, after 
all, make a wiser choice for himself than we would 
make for him. Other sects than our own may indeed 
assail him, prejudice him against ours, and give false 
colours to the excellencies of their own. This then is 
their error and sin ; and let us not make ourselves parta- 
kers in the same transgression, and betray the same little- 
ness of spirit, by adopting measures to counteract such 
interferences; remembering that in a contest of this kind, 
both parties are likely to be actuated more by the spirit 
of carnal strife than by a regard to the truth, the good 
of the individual, or the glory of God. The laws of 
self-defence have no application to these inglorious 
struggles for victory, and we practise gross imposition 
on ourselves, when we hope to be governed in them by 
principles worthy of the gospel of Christ. God only 
knows whether any of the existing denominations of 
Christians have any decided advantage over their bre- 
thren ; for our partisan feelings do not admit of our dis- 
cerning the excellencies of others, and even if we did 
discern them, our party regulations do not permit us to 
adopt them into our system. Hence we see the neces- 
sity of pursuing such a course of measures, as will tend 



141 

to soften the asperity of sectarian feeling, before the 
Christian community will become fully persuaded of the 
folly and sin of sectarian divisions and contentions. 

The training and then licensing ministers for particular 
denominations, and the training and receiving members 
with the same view, is what fortifies sect, and operates 
against Christian union. Let more liberal and scrip- 
tural principles guide the churches in these matters, 
and much will be gained towards setting ministers, 
church officers, and private members, loose from their 
sectarian partialities, and make room for the growth of 
more liberal feelings. 

I Y. Let us cherish the feeling of love to all Christians. 

We should not only be anxious to remove out of the 
way whatever produces or cherishes alienation of heart 
from our fellow Christians of other denominations, but 
should sedulously cultivate in our minds the feeling of 
love towards them ; calling to our aid the powerful reasons 
and motives urged in the Holy Scriptures for the exer- 
cise of this affection. We should remember the bond 
of union by which all Christians are connected together 
by the command of our Saviour, even as the members of 
the human body are united to constitute one perfect man. 
All depend upon one another ; — nor can one say of the 
other, I have no need of thee, and I will not belong to 
the same body with thee. How preposterous were it, 
should one of the eyes refuse to hold the corresponding 
place in the head with the other, that did not at times 
direct itself to the same object of sight, or perform the 
office of vision with the same perfection ; or for one of 
the arms to withdraw from its companionship with the 
other, that had less of comeliness or strength than itself. 



142 

The mutual dependence of Christians united as mem- 
bers of the same spiritual body whereof Christ is the 
head, should inspire them with love to support, nourish, 
and encourage one another in their conflict with Satan, 
the world, and the corruption of their own hearts. 

We should remember too that while Christians of 
other denominations are less sound and comely in our 
eyes than ourselves, we appear to them in the same light 
that they do to us. All in truth have their imperfec- 
tions, blots, blemishes, and erroneous opinions, for it 
is not in man to be perfect. Yea, if we could see with 
the eye of omniscience, we should see that there is no 
soundness in us; that in us there dwelleth no good 
thing; that our very righteousnesses are filthy rags,,^ 
and our hearts a cage of unclean birds. Yet we pray 
that God would be patient and forbearing towards us, 
forgive our sins, love us, hold communion with us, yea, 
walk with us continually, supporting us when we wake 
and when we sleep, in health and in sickness, in the 
day of prosperity and in the day of calamity, and we ex- 
pect that he will do so, because he has graciously pro- 
mised that he will. But we are as much bound to for- 
bear, love, and help to hold communion, and walk with 
our brethren in Christ, as God is to do so unto us. 
His promise is no more imperative upon him than 
his command is upon us, and there is surely as much 
reason that we should obey his commands, as that he 
should perform his promise. Nay, more so, as his 
command upon us is unconditional, and his promises 
are made oftentimes, if not always, under the condition 
expressed or implied that we perform the corresponding 
duty to our fellow-men. Who will obtain mercy from 
the Lord Those who are merciful to their fellow- 



143 



creatures. Who will obtain forgiveness of their sins 1 
Those who from the heart forgive others their trespass- 
es. Will God then bear with our infirmities, errors of 
opinions or practice, if we will not bear with our bre- 
thren in their imperfections 1 Will he love us, who are 
in truth almost entirely unlike to him, when we do not 
love our brethren, who are in almost all things like unto 
ourselves, and differ from us in only a few particulars ? 
The only ground on which God can exercise the love of 
complacency towards us personally, is, that he has im- 
parted to us a small portion of his own moral image, 
and of this image he has imparted a portion to every be- 
liever. , He can see the marks of his own image on 
every one that is born of the Spirit, and so could we, if 
we were not blinded by our partial judgements. No- 
thing tends more to obscure our perceptions of God's 
image in others, than the blinding influence of sectarian 
prejudice. The Christian graces shine very obscurely 
in those who are not of our own way in all things, for 
we magnify their faults and underrate their graces. 

The apostle John, in his first epistle, says that he 
who loveth his brother abideth in the light, but "he that 
hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in dark- 
ness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because dark- 
ness has blinded his eyes." 1 John ii. 9, 10, 11. He 
useth the expression " hateth his brother," in the same 
sense as not loving him, 1 John iv. 20, 21, where he 
says, "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his bro- 
ther, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother 
whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he 
hath not seen ] And this command have we from him, 
that he who loveth God love his brother also." We cite 
those passages for another purpose, beside that of pro- 



144 



ving that not to love one's brother is to hate him ; 
namely, to show that he who hopes to maintain good 
evidence of his love to God, must manifest love to his 
Christian brethren. 

What then is love? It is the opposite of hatred, and 
certainly very different from the feeling of aversion or 
even indifference. We all know what is love, when 
exercised towards parents or children, brothers or sis- 
.ters of the same family. It is our love to them which 
makes us tender of their good name, and moves us to 
extenuate or cover their faults, bear with their differen- 
ces from us in taste, habits, opinion or behaviour, and 
desire their company, notwithstanding bodily or even 
moral blemishes and deformities. How different is this 
from the feelings we entertain towards brethren who 
belong with us to the same household of Christ, but 
who have not adopted the same sectarian name. Such is 
the blinding influence of sect, that many openly avow the 
sentiment that they cannot walk with Christians of another 
denomination. They acknowledge that the asperities 
of sect ought to be softened, but they insist that the 
partition walls must remain, and they deem it quite 
enough that the wall should be so far lowered as that 
those on the opposite sides may shake hands over it. 
This is now quite a popular conceit among the apolo- 
gists of sect ; but what does it mean , except it be that 
Christians who do not see all things in the same light, 
must not step over the wall, and embrace each other, 
nor even walk in company ; that they can at most give 
a hearty shake of the hand, and must then retreat mu- 
tually from the wall, lest a stay might produce a quarrel, 
or at least unpleasant sensations'? Is this the exhibition 
of Christian love? Is this Christian fellowship? Is 



145 



this walking together, as becometh the children of God? 
Where is the warrant from the Scriptures, to limit our 
love to any portion of our brethren? We must in- 
deed avoid evil communications, and not walk in the 
counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners; 
we are commanded to beware of wolves in sheep's 
clothing ; but we are nowhere cautioned to avoid inti- 
mate fellowship with the saints in whom dwelleth the 
spirit of sanctification, lest we should be corrupted with 
their imperfect or erroneous apprehensions of doctrine, 
nor are we apprized in the Scriptures of the danger of 
mingling with the actual sheep of Christ, lest we should 
be bitten or devoured by them. The command is ge- 
neral to all Christians, to please their neighbour for 
good to edification ; to have fervent charity among 
themselves, charity which shall cover the multitude of 
sins, which hopeth all things, believeth all things, and 
beareth all things. The saints are commanded not to 
forsake the assembling of themselves together; not that 
the followers of Paul must meet for prayer, praise, and 
edification, with the admirers of Paul, and the friends of 
Apollos with those who entertain the same preferences ; 
but there must be no such divisions among them. 

We have already said that God's promises to us are 
in many instances, if not generally, on the condition 
express or implied that we perform the corresponding 
duties to our fellow-men ; and among our fellow-men, 
those who are believers in Christ, have an emphatic 
claim upon us. " Do good unto all men, especially to 
the household of faith." Our Saviour tells us to pray 
" forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that tres- 
pass against us." In the spirit of this prayer, we ought 
13 



146 



to ask of God to forbear with us, in our errors of opinion 
or practice, as we forbear with our brethren in their dif- 
ferences from us ; to walk with us notwithstanding our 
many short comings in regard to his requirements, even 
as we walk with our brethren, notwithstanding their fail- 
ure to come up to the measure of our standard ; to ma- 
nifest his love to us, notwithstanding our manifold ble- 
mishes and perverseness, even as we love our bre- 
thren, notwithstanding the unlovely traits in their cha- 
racter. Christian brethren, can we pray in this spirit, 
so long as we treat as strangers, not to say as oppon- 
ents, those who are believers in Christ as well as our- 
selves, because they cannot in all things see with our 
eyes, and understand with our judgements? Would 
not our prayers, if expressed in the language of our feel- 
ings, be as follows ] " Forbear thou with us, although 
thou seest in us so much that is contrary to thy mind 
and will ; but excuse us our unwillingness to bear with 
our brethren, in whom there are a few things contrary 
to our mind and will." " Manifest to us the tokens of 
thy love, notwithstanding that we are covered with sin 
and pollution; but ask not of us to exhibit much affec- 
tion for those in whom we observe a few spots and ble- 
mishes." "Walk thou with us, be on our right hand 
and our left, notwithstanding that we are so unlike thee ; 
but demand not of us to remove the partition wall which 
we have erected to separate us from those of thy chil- 
dren who are in a few unessential particulars unlike our- 
selves : we cannot walk with them ; we cannot speak 
with them of the common salvation ; we cannot endure 
to hear the preaching which edifies them ; we will not 
practise our religious rites, nor administer the govern- 



147 



ment of the church in the same house with them, al- 
though we confess that their bodies are the temples of 
the Holy Ghost, and that the Father and his Son Jesus 
Christ dwell in them, and delight to hold communion 
with them." 



148 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE MEANS FOR RESTORING THE UNITY 
OF THE CHURCH, CONTINUED. 



5. Labour to elevate the standard of religion. 6. Encourage the 
benevolent associations of the day. 7. Return to the primitive mode 
of reading the Scriptures. 8. Cherish the spirit of prayer appropriate 
to the times, especially for a more devoted and more efficient ministry. 

V. Let Christians labour to elevate the standard of 
religion* 

When the disciples of Christ shall have been baptized 
into the spirit of brotherly love, as required in the Scrip- 
tures, they will be in a better state of mind to understand 
the design of God in establishing a church upon earth, and 
constituting it one and indivisible. Mankind stands ar- 
rayed in two great divisions ; the seed of the serpent on 
the one side, and the seed of the woman on the other. 
The first is headed by Satan, the prince of the power of 
the air, who worketh in the hearts of the children of dis- 
obedience ; the latter is headed by Emanuel, king in 
Zion, who designs to subdue all nations to himself, and 



149 

bring the whole world under his spiritual dominion. To 
accomplish this work, he employs his church, composed 
of all believers, into each of whom he has infused a mea- 
sure of his own Spirit, and with so vast a conquest to 
achieve, they have no time to lose ; for while they loi- 
ter, Satan drags his thousands and his millions to hell, 
and then exults in the smoke of their torment, which is 
ascending for ever and ever. It is unbecoming the cha- 
racter of those who are the followers of the Prince of 
Peace to fall out by the way ; and it is subversive of his 
design to rid the world of its tyrant, that they should 
waste their time and energies in fruitless controversy 
among themselves, when all their strength and all their 
resources are required to conquer and subdue the great 
enemy. The weapons of their warfare are not carnal 
but spiritual ; and they are mighty through God to the 
pulling down of strong holds, bringing into captivity 
every thought to the obedience of Christ. Unlike other 
soldiers, they are to conquer not by destroying the ene- 
mies of their Prince, nor even by injuring them, but by 
doing them good, and winning them over to his side. 
The mode in which they are to accomplish it, is by 
showing them the sin of rebellion against their lawful 
Sovereign, proclaim the terms of pardon and reconcilia- 
tion, and denouncing the doom that awaits them, if they 
refuse to submit to the offer of mercy. In the accom- 
plishment of this great enterprise, while the Holy Spirit 
is the efficient agent in subduing the hearts of his ene- 
mies, he employs the instrumentality of men who have 
themselves been brought to the obedience of the gospel, 
and expects them to use the means which he has him- 
self appointed, and which, in his wisdom, he has adap- 
ted to the end to be accomplished. He requires the 
• 13* 



150 

united efforts of all his friends ; to each of whom he haa 
given a talent or more, which they are bound to use for 
his profit, under the penalty of receiving, in case of dis- 
obedience, the retribution of a wicked and slothful ser- 
vant. Every Christian is a servant of Christ ; and he 
has work to be performed by every one of them ; suffer- 
ing no one to stand idle, without administering to him 
reproof, and urging him on to labour. 

The nature of the service required of Christians, de- 
mands that they make in their lives an exhibition of the 
excellency of their principles, that the world may behold 
in them a contrast to their own, and perceive with a 
single glance the superiority of the religion of Christ, 
even as the light of a candle in the darkness of night 
can be perceived at once by the eyes of a beholder. 
Their character must present not only the shining quali- 
ties of light, but also the durable and preserving quality 
of salt, to preserve the world from corruption. Their af- 
fections and efforts must not be confined to the limits of a 
congregation, or the bounds of a sect, but their benevo- 
lence must embrace the whole human family, and the 
effects of their benevolence must be diffused, like leaven, 
through the whole mass of mankind. They should mani- 
fest their supreme love to God by evincing their readiness 
to forego any of its possessions and enjoyments, if thereby 
they can advance the extension of his kingdom. They 
ought to show their affections to be in heaven, by soar- 
ing above the maxims, customs, and follies of the lovers 
of the world. It ought to be apparent to those who ob- 
serve their conduct, that they are seeking first the king- 
dom of God and his righteousness ; in all their dealings, 
they should practise strict honesty, as in the sight of 
God. They should owe no man any thing, not living 
above their income, not contracting debts which they 



151 



have not the prospect, upon prudent calculation, of dis- 
charging; and avoiding entanglements and hazards in 
their business, they should escape those insolvencies 
which so often wreck the character of the Christian pro- 
fessor, and injure the cause of religion. Nor should 
they be partisans in those political excitements which, 
however they may be in character for those who do not 
habitually look beyond this world, are not becoming 
those who profess to be pilgrims and strangers in the 
earth. They ought to show their superiority to the 
selfishness of ungodly men, and their consequent quar- 
rels and contentions, by living, as far as is possible, 
peacably with all men. — It is necessary above all things 
that they have fervent charity among themselves. 
" Hereby shall all men know that ye are my disciples, 
if ye have love one to another." 

It is only by a faithful exhibition of Christian charac- 
ter, that the light of Christians can so shine as to have 
a converting influence upon sinners. This stands pro- 
minent among the means of grace ordained of God to 
convince a gainsaying world. So long as Christianity 
is merely or mostly represented to them as a theory un- 
supported by the lives of its professors, they find little 
difficulty to evade its claims upon them. They judge 
of the theory by the exhibition of it made by those who 
pretend to have embraced it ; and when they observe 
many who in their works deny it, or manifest a spirit 
much below its holy requirements, why should we won- 
der that the unbelieving sinner, instead of glorifying 
God from the exhibition made of religion by its profes- 
sors, should take occasion to blaspheme his name, and 
contemn his cause 1 

The direct way to reunite the church of Christ, is to 



152 



elevate the standard of religion. This is of much greater 
importance than an increase of numbers. What avails 
the multitude of servants, when they refuse to do their 
master's work ; or the multitude of soldiers, when they 
decline the toils, privations and dangers incident to the 
life and duty of a soldier 1 Of what value are those dis- 
ciples who spend their lifetime in learning the require- 
ments of their teacher, but are never ready to reduce 
them to practice 1 How few are there of the multitudes 
admitted into the church, who understand the nature of 
their calling, if we may take their actions as a true 
exhibition of their attainments in knowledge. 

To what cause must we ascribe the low state of reli- 
gion among professors of the gospel? Making all just 
allowances for the remains of corruption in the hearts of 
believers, and the influence of the world, and other 
temptations that seduce them from a life of godliness, 
much of the prevalent defect of Christian character and 
conduct must, we apprehend, be attributed to the par- 
tial and injudicious system of teaching and training 
adopted in the churches. There are many honourable 
exceptions, which we do not design to include in our 
remarks, and whose example we wish were generally 
followed. We speak of the mass of congregations in 
this country, at least as far as our information extends. 
Great pains are in many instances taken to make what 
are called good Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Metho- 
dists, or Baptists, but how little, in comparison to its 
relative importance, is done to make men faithful sol- 
diers of the cross, and faithful labourers in the harvest 
of the Lord ? In the reception of members into the 
church, much more of anxiety is manifested to ascer- 
tain what they believe, than what they do, or what they 



153 



design or are willing to do, for advancing the interests 
of Christ's kingdom. Such is the influence of the sec- 
tarian spirit which mingles itself with all the concerns of 
the divided church, that the laborious self-denying duties 
of Christianity are thrown into the back ground, seldom 
brought into view, and then in a manner betraying feel- 
ings of little or no interest. Ministers have not cou- 
rage, or they have not the zeal animating them to incul- 
cate openly and fearlessly the vanity of an empty profes- 
sion, and to point out in what it consists. They deal 
in generals, when they ought to descend to particulars. 
Not that we would desire (for we deprecate most ear- 
nestly) that rudeness of reproof, personality, and cen- 
soriousness, which is inconsistent with the gentleness, 
prudence, and charity, inculcated in the Scriptures. A 
public teacher may be plain, particular, and pungent, 
upon the Christian duties of benevolence, diligence in 
the work of the Lord, self-denial, deadness to the world, 
honesty, purity, humility, forgiveness of injuries, and 
the like, without being rude, personal, or imprudent. 
Jesus Christ and his apostles, as well as John the Bap- 
tist, in the public addresses, as well as the private dis- 
courses they delivered, were less urgent on matters of 
faith not immediately connected with practice, than our 
public teachers, in these sectarian times. They insisted 
more on duties, and the points of faith inseparable from 
those duties ; and in their instructions they were ex- 
ceedingly plain, giving to each class of persons, and in 
less public discourses, to individuals, their portion in 
due season. John the Baptist preached the doctrine of 
repentance, insisting with his hearers on the perform- 
ance of those duties which evince the actual exercise of 
repentance. He was pointed in his instructions, direct- 



154 

ing the publicans to cease from false accusations, the 
soldiers from violence and discontent with their wages ; 
and admonishing the people generally to throw off their 
selfishness, and impart liberally to the wants of others. 
He demands that every tree bring forth its appropriate 
fruit, or that it would be cut down and cast into the fire. 
Luke iii. 9 — 14. It needed no metaphysical discus- 
sion nor formal definition, at that time, to explain what 
was repentance ; nor is it needed now, for the nature of 
the duty has not changed since the days of John the 
Baptist, and never will. The Saviour is equally plain 
and pungent. There is no misunderstanding his injunc- 
tions and requirements ; he employed no intricate and 
complex demonstrations, nor such generality of applica- 
tion as to admit of exceptions according to the taste or 
inclination of the individual. The preaching of the 
apostles was of the same character, and that of *all 
these was in harmony with the prophets who preceded 
them. 

We are not the advocates of new men or new mea- 
sures unwarranted by scriptural authority ; but we de- 
precate the squeamishness, the generality, the indis- 
tinctness of modern days, in the inculcation of Chris- 
tian duties. It is from this cause that there is upon the 
minds of professors of religion so little senL 3 of the obli- 
gation to perform the duties clearly taught and impera- 
tively enforced in the Bible. You see it in the general 
neglect of those duties. You hear it in the discourse of 
Christians, which, when not directed to matters of a 
mere worldly nature, is much more on matters of con- 
troverted belief and the externals of religion, than on the 
duties enjoined upon them as the friends and servants 
of the Lord, and as brethren to each other. It is as 



155 



every one knows, much more easy to move a church to 
exercise discipline towards one of its members for an 
error of opinion, though of a controverted and unessential 
character, than for even the habitual neglect of essential 
duties clearly enjoined in the Scriptures. Were Chris- 
tians taught differently, and were this teaching supported 
by proper discipline, administered with Christian love, 
with patience and perseverance, the standard of piety 
would soon be raised higher ; the light of Christianity 
would shine on every side ; the wickedness of the unbe- 
liever would be rebuked by the walk of the believer ; the 
salt of the earth would regain its savour, and the leaven 
of Christianity would be diffused all around, until it 
should leaven the whole world. The children would 
generally receive instruction from the fountain of wis- 
dom, the Holy Scriptures ; the rising generation would 
grow up a host for the service of the church of Christ ; 
labourers would be qualified and sent forth in the em- 
ploy of the Lord of the harvest ; the means of grace 
would be furnished to the destitute in Christian lands, 
and our seamen would be converted into messengers of 
salvation to distant countries. Religious tracts would 
be put into the hands of every reader; the Bible would 
be found in every family ; the pure gospel of Christ 
would be preached to every creature, and the knowledge 
of the glory of the Lord would fill the earth as the waters 
cover the seas. The means to accomplish these glo- 
rious objects would be cheerfully furnished from the 
abundance which God hath, at this day, so signally 
showered upon the Christian world. Our benevolent 
institutions would be amply supported, and would flou- 
rish, moving on to the accomplishment of their noble de- 
signs, without exciting the opposition, the envy, or the 



156 



jealousy of religious denominations. As the system of 
religious teaching shall be reformed, the power of Chris- 
tianity upon the hearts and lives of its professors will re- 
appear, the attachment of men to their sectarian pecu- 
liarities will consequently decrease, and the obstacles to 
the reunion of the church will melt away. 

VI. Let us encourage the benevolent associations of 
the day. 

That it is the duty of Christians to evangelize the 
world admits of no dispute. That it will ever be accom- 
plished by the divided church, there is no reason to 
hope. She cannot even keep pace with the increasing 
population and consequent wants of our own country, 
and what will she do with the rest of this wide world ? 
Nothing was done by the church in this country to carry 
the gospel to the distant heathen, prior to the formation 
of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign 
Missions ; nor was any thing worthy the name of an im- 
portant effort attempted towards sending the gospel to 
the destitute in our own country before the organization 
of the American Home Missionary Society. These 
associations were formed by Christians who saw the ne- 
cessity of breaking away from the chains of sect which 
had so long held the church in bondage, and deprived her 
of the power and the will to obey the commands of a 
risen Saviour, and to extend the bounds of his dominion. 
^.They aim at the universal spread of the gospel of salva- 
tion, and that freely, as it is announced in the Scriptures. 
To sustain them in their operations, they need all the 
countenance and pecuniary assistance which it is in the 
power of Christians in America to afford. Being as 
catholic in their principles and measures as the condition 



157 



of the church has hitherto admitted, they present strong 
claims upon several denominations, if not upon all 
American Christians, for their cordial and vigorous sup- 
port. They need men, preachers of the gospel, teach- 
ers of schools, physicians and mechanics, to answer the 
purposes of their organization ; nor will those purposes 
be answered until the nations and people coming within 
the scope of their operations, shall be civilized, and 
brought under the influence of the gospel of Christ. 

To furnish these societies as well as the churches in 
this country with competent ministers of the gospel, it is 
found necessary to afford the means of a suitable educa- 
tion to pious young men who have not the means of ed- 
ucating themselves. For the accomplishment of this 
object the American Education Society was formed, a 
society in its principles and operations entirely catholic, 
and which excludes not students of any religious denom- 
ination. They have now under their care several hun- 
dreds of young men, of various creeds, with the view of 
training them for the service of any of the churches that 
may require their ministry, and with the hope of sending 
many of them into the missionary field. 

But the wants of the world demand a more rapid in- 
crease of preachers of the gospel than can be furnished 
by means of the Education Society, without securing a 
more efficient education to children prior to their admis- 
sion into its care. To supply this defect, as well as to 
extend the benefits of a religious education to all the 
children of our land, the American Sunday School Union 
was formed. In this institution there is nothing of a 
sectarian character, the Scriptures being the fountain of 
instruction recommended by those who conduct its con- 
cerns ; but as they are unwilling to refuse their aid to any 
14 



158 



Christians, and are cheerfully desirous of imparting unto 
all the advantages of their union, they admit as auxilia- 
ries any societies of Christians, although they may prefer 
instruction from their catechism to instruction from the 
Bible itself, and therefore even sectarians have no ground 
of objection to the plan and general objects of this 
society. 

That much neglected class of men which navigate 
our merchant vessels and ships of war, are now receiv- 
ing the kind attention of another benevolent society, 
called " The Seamen's Friend Society," which claims 
kindred with no particular sect of Christians, but appeals 
for its support to the humane and pious feelings of all, 
without distinction of party. Here is one class of our 
fellow beings, who are in measure supplied with the rich 
and abundant means of grace without any thing like 
sectarian organization. Preachers of all denominations 
are invited to preach to the poor seaman, who needs as 
pure and heavenly food for the salvation of his soul, as 
does the landsman ; and no one acquainted with the 
religious concerns of seamen entertains a doubt but that 
the bread and water of life is in truth administered to 
them. Here is an institution which commends itself to 
the conscience, the affections, and efficient support of 
all Christians, except such as can see no charms in any 
thing that advances not the peculiar interests of his own 
sect. We rejoice in the patronage given to this society, 
while we grieve that it touches not the feelings and 
secures not the prayers and contributions of every Chris- 
tian. 

The American Bible Society deserves and receives a 
great degree of patronage from the Christian commu- 
nity. Publishing as they do the Bible without note or 



159 



comment, it cannot be supposed to meet with opposition 
from any but infidels ; and it is in fact loved by all 
Christians who are acquainted with its nature and its 
operations, except only those who are offended with ev- 
ery thing upon which they cannot see the stamp of their 
own sect. And yet it is true that there are multitudes of 
believers in every part of the land who are not sufficiently 
acquainted with this noble institution to enlist them in its 
support ; from some others it receives occasional and 
scanty contributions ; and it is limited and often embar- 
rassed in its efforts for want of a uniform, constant, and 
liberal support from American Christians. Surely our 
continent ought not now to be unsupplied with the Holy 
Scriptures for the want of funds ; and if the means of 
affording the supply shall not be furnished in a short pe- 
riod, it must be attributed to some other cause than the 
want of merit in the claims of the society. 

The American Tract Society is another benevolent 
institution worthy of the nation and of the Christian reli- 
gion, scattering the leaves of salvation at home and 
abroad, with as liberal a hand as the means furnished 
them will permit. The matter of their nine volumes of 
tracts, besides their numerous other publications, every 
one will admit to be excellent and abundant, affording 
food to the Christian soul under all its varying circum- 
stances, and urging upon the sinner the great and impor- 
tant duties God requires of him, presenting to him every 
motive which can be supposed to influence man as a 
reasonable and accountable being. They teach and 
inculcate the great and essential doctrines of salvation 
in a manner that cannot offend the sensibilities of any 
sectarian, save him who is displeased with every sound 
that pronounces not the shibboleths of his party. And yet 



160 



there are many churches that exclude from circulation 
among them the publications of this truly excellent and 
benevolent association in order to give exclusive room 
for the party tracts of their own denomination. These 
not only fail of helping to increase the resources of the 
national society, but withhold from it through the force 
of party prejudice many a contribution which would oth- 
erwise be made to its funds. 

The Prison Discipline Society is also most truly hu- 
mane in its principles, and happy in the results of its 
efforts. Much has been done by it to ameliorate the 
condition of the prisoner, as well as to make his imprison- 
ment the means of reforming his character by keeping 
from him the means of grosser corruption, and by sup- 
plying him with mental, moral and religious instruction. 
Much has been done to elucidate the causes of crime, 
and something we hope to guide the legislator and phi- 
lanthropist in the effort to prevent its increase, and even 
to diminish its amount. This society has, moreover, 
been the means of bringing glory to the cross of Christ, 
by exhibiting the power of religion upon some of the 
most depraved of the human species, and by affording 
striking illustrations of many of its truths. This society 
does not indeed require much of the personal efforts 
or contributions of Christians, but it needs the good 
will and the prayers of all ; and the privilege of sustaining 
it, ought to be coveted by all the benevolent, instead of 
permitting that privilege to be enjoyed by an inconsider- 
able number. These last remarks apply also to the 
Peace Society, and the Temperance Society, which are 
both truly benevolent in their objects, and ought to com- 
mand the co-operation of every community, and their 



161 



prayers that the benefits of their principles may be real- 
ized by themselves and the whole world of mankind. 

Although none of these societies have a direct aim at 
reuniting the distracted church of Christ, but design 
only to promote each its appropriate and avowed object, 
they do all of them actually form a bond of union to a 
greater or less extent between Christians of various de- 
nominations ; and in their associations tend directly to 
cherish those feelings and principles which must become 
more generally prevalent before the tyrannic power of 
sect can be broken, and Christianity liberated from its 
thraldom. And until the time shall arrive when public 
sentiment shall be sufficiently corrected to sustain insti- 
tutions with the like object, of a character still more 
catholic, those now in operation present a strong and 
imperative claim to the warm and vigorous support of 
every friend to the reunion of the church. We there- 
fore cannot refrain from earnestly recommending the 
cheerful and liberal support of these benevolent associa- 
tions as one of the principal means of restoring the con- 
stitutional unity of the church, as well as of elevating the 
standard of religion in the Christian community. 

The claims of these liberal societies are, however, 
evaded or resisted by many who may be very honest in 
their opinions, but whose judgements appear to us to be 
evidently perverted by the force of sectarian prejudice. 
It is gravely argued and thousands yield to its force, that as 
every church is connected with some denomination, ev- 
ery one who becomes a church member thereby proclaims 
before God and the world that the denomination to which 
he belongs is in his judgement better than any other in 
existence, and that therefore he is bound to do all in his 
power for that denomination, otherwise he denies his 
14* 



162 



own profession. That is, if there be a Bible society in 
his own denomination which circulates the Bible with 
notes and comments, (or with other accompaniments, 
showing the sense which his own sect puts upon the 
word of God,) he must bestow all he has to spare 
for the Bible cause, upon that society ; and what then 
is left for him to give to the American Bible Society, 
which distributes the Bible alone, and that without note 
or comment ? Or if the sect to which the Christian be- 
longs has its tract society, which contends earnestly for 
its peculiar views and tenets, he must give every dollar 
he has to spare for tracts to his own society, and not a 
cent to the American Tract Society, which publishes 
only such scriptural truths as receive the assent of every 
Christian mind and heart, and meddles not with the pecu- 
liarities of any division of Christians. The theory may 
sound very well when we address only those of our own 
denomination, and forget that the church of Christ is 
one, or when we neglect to notice that by our own rea- 
soning we are imposing on Christians of other denomi- 
nations, duties directly opposite to those we prescribe 
for our own. When our views are diverse, there is error 
on the one side or the other. If my becoming a member 
of the Reformed Dutch church imposes on me the duty 
of supporting a tract society of that church, which holds 
the doctrine that infants ought to be baptized, and whose 
tracts contend for the same, your becoming a member 
of the Baptist church imposes on you the duty of sup- 
porting a tract society of that church, which denies the 
right of infant baptism, and whose tracts vindicate that 
denial ; and both are brought under obligation to give 
exclusive support to his own society, and to withhold all 
aid om a tract society occupying the ground which is 



163 



common to us both. We know not how there could be 
a more striking illustration of the pithy question of St. 
Paul to the Corinthians, "Is Christ divided?" than the 
opposite duties which are thus imposed on Christians by 
the bare circumstance of a sectarian distinction between 
them. One of them is in error, but he is bound by the 
laws of sect, to do all he can to defend and to propagate 
his error. Why? Because, says the sectarian, if it be 
an error, it is the error of my own church. Your own 
church, Christian brother ? And is not my church your 
church, and your church mine? Then is Christ divided 
indeed, and St. Paul's idea of an indivisible church was 
visionary, and the Saviour spoke words without meaning, 
when he prayed that his disciples might be one, even as 
he and the Father were one. 

If every church member is bound to do all he can for 
the institutions of his own denomination, upon whom 
must devolve the support of our great institutions of be- 
nevolence? Almost exclusively upon the impenitent 
and unbelieving, for we apprehend there are but few be- 
lievers who have not made a profession of religion. Is 
the Christian public then prepared to sanction a doctrine 
which tends directly to the destruction of these noble 
charities, and thus to wither the hopes of the benevolent 
in this hemisphere ? 

These institutions have been further assailed on the 
ground of their being mere voluntary associations, not 
constituting a church, and having therefore no ecclesias- 
tical responsibility. Would all sects unite, organize one 
church, and, in their ecclesiastical character, undertake 
the distribution of the Bible and of religious tracts, sup- 
press evils, reform what is amiss, and convert the world, 
most gladly would we see these voluntary associations 



164 

yield their places to a better organization. But this we 
do not expect to see until the way shall have been pre- 
pared for the reunion of the church, by the means which 
God in his wisdom and goodness may lead his children 
to adopt. And in the mean time we cannot conceive of 
a more happy scheme to forward the great objects of 
Christian benevolence than these voluntary associations 
of men taken from all the considerable denominations of 
Christians. As Christian men, pursuing Christian ob- 
jects, they acknowledge and feel their responsibility to 
Christ for the faithful execution of their trust, to as great 
a degree, certainly, as any single denomination of Chris- 
tians can do. They feel their responsibility also to their 
fellow Christians, and to their own consciences, while 
they recognise the best of all standards, the Bible, as 
the rule and measure of their responsibility. They have 
thus far given ample evidence of diligence and fidelity 
in pursuit of their several objects, and have not excited 
the suspicions and evil surmisings of any except the open 
enemies of religion and the victims of sectarian jealousy. 
What bodies of men can there be in the present state of 
the church better adapted to the ends to be attained, 
than these societies 1 They have received, and justly 
deserve, a much greater degree of confidence from the 
Christian community at large, than would any single de- 
nomination of believers, how ecclesiastical soever their 
organization may be. 

The conversion of the world is a matter in which all 
Christians have a common interest ; and as there is no 
such thing as a separate interest subsisting in different 
sects, it is immaterial which of them shall accomplish the 
work. Christ will be entitled to all the glory, and the 
church of Christ will receive the benefit resulting from 



165 



its accomplishment. Let then every Christian banish 
the narrow views of sect, and embrace in his affections 
the whole family of mankind. Let him give his heart, 
his hand, and his purse, to the support of that stupendous 
scheme of benevolence, that has no limit to its extension 
except that of the globe we inhabit, and which fails in 
its object so long as one of its inhabitants is unreclaimed 
from sin and hell. This we urge as one of the happiest 
and most important means for elevating the standard of 
religion in the church, and the sure way of restoring her 
constitutional unity. Ministers and lay Christians will 
thus become workers together, with God, to free the 
world from the dominion of Satan, and establish the 
kingdom in his hands whose right it is to reign in the 
earth. They will learn more perfectly, in their own ex- 
perience, the nature and blessedness of that religion 
which urges and helps to the performance of every 
Christian duty. The terrible evils which afflict the 
church will soon be removed, the graces of God's peo- 
ple shine forth in all their beauty, and the latter day glory 
be speedily ushered in. 

We will direct a moment's attention to the manner in 
which the general support of our benevolent institutions 
will produce such wonderful changes in the character of 
churches and of individual believers. The Christian 
cannot grow without suitable exercise. His faith is 
strengthened more by obedience, than by hearing, read- 
ing, speculation or meditation, and his hope becomes 
established more by exercise than by self-examination. 
His humility will not grow so much by abstract reflec- 
tion, as by practising the self-denying duties of the gos- 
pel ; and his selfishness will yield less readily to reason- 
ing on God's right to his time, labour, and property, for 



166 



the advancement of his cause and the good of mankind, 
than to actual and repeated drafts upon his purse, and 
demands on his time and labour for these objects. His 
love to God will increase as he is ministering to the tem- 
poral and everlasting wants of the creatures of His hand, 
and his love to mankind will grow warmer in his bosom 
as he witnesses their necessities, and employs the means 
to relieve them. A sense of his own unworthiness and 
insufficiency will then only grow upon him, when he shall 
in earnest set about the performance of every required 
duty. It is in vain to exhort men to grow in grace and 
the knowledge of Christ, unless the Christian graces are 
kept in constant exercise. Every Christian must have 
actual work assigned him. There is something for every 
one to do for the benefit of others, and then it will be 
found, as surely as the word of God is true, that while 
he is watering others, he will himself be watered in his 
turn. 

Were every congregation, as it might be, an efficient 
auxiliary to the Bible Society, there would be no diffi- 
culty to ascertain who are destitute of the Bible at home, 
or to supply them with it ; and how easy would it then 
be to awaken attention to the destitute in other places, 
and secure the feelings and contributions of Christians 
to the parent Society, and enable them to send the bread 
of life to the destitute in every part of the world who are 
perishing for want of it. Were every congregation an 
efficient Tract Society, the same results would follow in 
regard to that blessed charity, in the circulation of tracts. 
Many hands would be profitably employed in distribut- 
ing them ; and all whose hearts can feel would cheer- 
fully contribute their share to furnish a supply at home 
and abroad. In like manner might every church sus- 



167 



tain its part in the missionary enterprise, learning at the 
same time to appreciate more adequately the value of 
the blessing which they themselves enjoy, by the very 
employment of spending their time, money, and pains, 
in sending it to others. Every congregation might and 
ought also to perform its share in educating the pious 
poor, to prepare them to preach the gospel, since the 
harvest is truly great and the labourers few ; and to im- 
part to all the children the benefits of Sabbath school 
instruction. The cause of seamen and of prisons, as 
well as the cause of temperance, ought also to have se- 
cured for them a warm reception in every church. At- 
tention to these various objects, and to every benevolent 
work that may present itself, would furnish employment 
to many professors of religion who are now sitting idle, 
and rusting under their accustomed means of grace, 
wrapped up in self, pursuing the world as though it were 
the sole object of their desire, and disgracing, instead of 
adorning, the profession of godliness. All this is prac- 
ticable too ; and those ministers and church officers who 
have made the experiment will admit and rejoice in tes- 
tifying that in proportion to their faithfulness in promot- 
ing these glorious charities, all the concerns and interests 
of the individual congregation have become more pros- 
perous ; the minister has been more esteemed and bet- 
ter sustained in all things ; peace and brotherly love have 
been promoted, and all the Christian graces brought into 
lively and profitable exercise. The few churches which 
are actively engaged in the support of these charities, 
have to sustain a severe struggle in resisting the worldly 
and sectarian influences of those which surround them, 
and partake not of the same spirit. Oh ! could our mi- 
nisters and congregations once hold up each other's 



168 



hands, and stimulate each other to still greater exertions 
for the glory of God, and the good of mankind, instead 
of pursuing a course which tends to lower the standard 
of religion wherever the attempt is made to elevate it, 
what blessed and abundant fruits of the Spirit should we 
not witness in the church of Christ ! 

But all this is not to be effected by the bare formation 
of auxiliary societies, and an occasional, timid address. 
As much pains at least ought to be taken to indoctrinate 
Christian disciples into these matters of important, indis- 
pensable duty, as it has been customary to take in order 
to shape them into the belief of abstract, speculative, 
controverted articles of faith. It appears to us that the 
duty of supporting our benevolent charities, all aiming at 
and tending to the conversion of the world, is at this day 
as plain as the duty to love our neighbour, to clothe the 
naked, and feed the hungry ; and the reason why they 
are not generally understood is, that the public teachers 
of religion do not enforce them upon the consciences of 
their hearers with earnestness and perseverance. It is 
seldom that our congregations are reminded that there 
is a world lying in the darkness of heathenism, Maho- 
metanism, and popery, and that every Christian is bound 
to do his part in converting the world. In many places 
the subject perhaps is never mentioned, except to the 
small numbers assembled at the monthly concert. The 
minister either wishes not or dares not to inculcate it as 
a duty upon his parishioners, to bestow their money 
upon any objects without the limits of their own congre- 
gation ; and if that duty is pressed at all, it is by the 
agent of some society, who, when he attempts the task, 
soon finds that he is addressing ears unaccustomed to 
such sounds, and appealing to hearts unprepared to re- 



169 



ceive his doctrines or answer to his calls. Even the 
minister who feels no opposition to benevolent associa- 
tions excuses himself from advocating their claims, on 
the ground that they have their agents, whose superior 
knowledge and skill in their respective agencies enables 
them to solicit contributions to better advantage than the 
pastor of the congregation. But herein an important 
matter is forgotten. The agent has not time in any 
place to give much instruction. He may and does state 
facts, and adduce reasons ; but to warrant the expecta- 
tion of success, he ought to have the advantage of ap- 
pealing more to facts already known, and to feelings 
previously formed, than to facts disclosed and feelings 
to be formed at the time. In other words, he cannot at 
the moment give consciences to his hearers, but must 
address himself to consciences already formed, or he ap- 
peals for the most part in vain. The consequence of 
the neglect of this duty on the part of the pastor is, that 
agents generally receive contributions only from those 
individuals whose minds are prepared to give, by infor- 
mation received through the medium of the press. This 
is well understood by the agents, and for that reason they 
seldom think of troubling the minister to call a meeting 
of his people, and content themselves with presenting 
their object to those few who receive the religious pa- 
pers, or who may be known to be favourably disposed. 

This is not as it should be. The expense and labour, 
or rather the profit and pleasure of supporting these 
blessed charities, ought not to be borne and enjoyed by 
a small number of the professed followers of Christ, 
while the rest are left to pursue the business of the 
world, as if that were the only thing needful. The doc- 
trine that what we contribute towards benevolent objects 
15 



170 



is but a portion of God's own property, lent to us for the 
very purpose of doing good therewith, and that it is more 
blessed to give than to receive, can be made familiar 
to every Christian mind. Every individual, before he 
thinks of being received into the church, ought to under- 
stand it to be his duty, as it is his privilege and his ho- 
nour, to bear his part in propagating the gospel. But 
how few of our churches would venture to inquire of an 
applicant for church-membership, whether he is in the 
practice of contributing his time, money, or labour, to 
send the Bible, the tract, or the gospel, to the destitute, 
or to aid the other benevolent societies of the day. Such 
questions would by most be deemed imprudent or im- 
pertinent, merely because the duty is not inculcated in 
the catechism or from the pulpit, or in pastoral visits. 
Why is it not? Because the command to Christians io 
convert the world has been thrown aside as a dead letter, 
ever since the reign of sect has been established. The 
broken church has aimed no further than to sustain the 
ordinances of religion at home, and has not been dis- 
turbed by the wailings of the millions that have annually 
dropped into the lake whose fire is never quenched. 

We are aware that the want of time is often pleaded 
as an excuse, even by those ministers of the gospel who 
appear favourably disposed towards the charitable insti- 
tutions of the day. Much time would be saved by many 
of our spiritual teachers if they should pay less attention 
to speculative and polemical theology ; and avoid the 
discussion of those points which have torn the church 
into fragments, without any adequate compensation. 
We admit that so long as the duty of supporting these 
charities does not press itself on the conscience of the 
pastor himself, it may cost him much time and labour to 



171 



argue the matter forcibly with his people ; and where his 
zeal is checked by the fear of giving offence to his hear- 
ers or others, it may be difficult for him so to urge the 
duty as to impel to action and at the same time to avoid 
giving offence. But it cannot cost the herald of the 
cross, who fears God more than men, whose soul is bur- 
dened with the weight and value of immortal souls per- 
ishing by millions for lack of vision, much time or labour 
to demonstrate the duty of every Christian to give his 
aid to save his fellow-immortals, and to show the advan- 
tages, in a temporal and spiritual view, of giving their 
assistance in every work of benevolence. Although 
there are many objects of Christian exertion, and to some 
the care of one of them may be more than he is willing 
to assume, yet whoever makes the trial and shall have 
taken under his care every one of these charities, will 
find what is experienced by every father of a family who 
puts his trust in God, that as his children increase, the 
means and facilities of maintaining them are multiplied ; 
and that however numerous they become, not one of 
them can be spared. While indeed we regard these 
charities as strangers, the support of them will be bur- 
densome ; but as soon as you receive them into your 
bosom and dwelling it will constitute your pleasure to 
provide for them all. 

VII. Let us return to the primitive mode of reading 
the Scriptures. 

To prepare the way for the abolition of sect, it is in- 
dispensably necessary that we read the Holy Scriptures 
as they were read in the primitive ages of Christianity. 
The constant and prayerful reading of the Bible, and 
the whole of the Bible, is the principal means of preserv- 
ing an harmonious faith among believers. In the pre- 



172 



sent condition of the church, we have as many standards 
of doctrinal belief as there are denominations of Chris- 
tians ; and so long as the present idolatrous attachment 
to these human standards continues, Christians must 
always remain divided in sentiment and action. They 
cannot read the Bible in simplicity, because they read 
it in the light of the standards of the church of which 
they are members ; and differing as those standards do 
from one another, what is light to a Christiau of one de- 
nomination, is darkness to his brother of another deno- 
mination. It was not so in the primitive ages of the 
church. They allowed no other standard of faith or 
practice than the inspired writings ; and the Reformers 
who had been taught of God the sufficiency of the Scrip- 
tures, under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, to enlighten 
and sanctify the Christian, believed " that the doctrine 
of the Bible is most perfect and complete," and being 
fully persuaded of the fallacy of the popish doctrine of 
the rule of faith and judge of controversy, they taught 
that " neither may we compare any writings of men, 
though ever so holy, with those divine Scriptures ; nor 
ought we to compare custom, or the great multitude, or 
antiquity, or succession of times, or persons, or coun- 
cils, decrees, or statutes, with the truth of God, for 
the truth is above all ; for all men are of themselves 
liars, and more vain than vanity itself." 

This is in perfect accordance with the dictates of 
sound reason, and is sanctioned by the Saviour himself. 
How solicitous was he to guard his disciples against re- 
ceiving for doctrines the commandments of men, and 
listening to the traditions of the scribes and elders ! Did 
he not forbid his disciples to call any man their master, 
on the ground that they had but one master in heaven ? 



173 



He alone has the authority and wisdom to govern the 
judgement of his rational creatures. We may not call 
any man or body of men our masters, and it is the pri- 
vilege, as it is the duty of every Christian, to exercise 
his own understanding as to the meaning of the Scrip- 
tures. He must indeed humbly seek to have his under- 
standing enlightened by the Holy Spirit, or he will be 
sure to err. But God has pledged his veracity to give 
wisdom to every humble inquirer who seeks instruction 
from him, while he has nowhere promised that those 
shall become wise who learn upon their own under- 
standing, or upon the understanding of ministers, fa- 
thers, or ecclesiastical councils. " They shall be all 
taught of God." Not some taught of God, and the rest 
by them ; but every one shall have his teaching imme- 
diately from God. " If any man lack wisdom, let him 
ask of God." Whoever feels his lack of wisdom, is not 
only permitted, but commanded to ask of God, and the 
promise follows that " he giveth liberally unto all." He 
must ask of God, not of the church, or human creeds ; 
not of God through the medium of the church, or any 
confession of faith, but immediately of God, and the 
promise is of a personal teaching by God himself, 
through the Scriptures. 

If divine teaching be necessary, it is our duty to give 
up ourselves wholly to it. We must be willing and de- 
sirous to receive what light the Spirit offers to our minds. 
The Spirit teaches " through the word," not contrary to 
it ; nor does he make any new revelation beyond the 
Scriptures. It is indispensable that a man, when he 
gives up himself to divine teaching, and ever after, 
should be willing to yield preconceived notions and 
opinions. He must become like a little child, feeling his 
15* 



174 



ignorance, believe that his Father knows all things, and 
is willing to instruct him and to guide him into all truth. 
Let it not be supposed that by yielding himself to the 
teaching of the Holy Spirit through the word of God, the 
Christian will expose himself to be tossed about with 
every wind of doctrine. If it were quite uncertain 
whether God is willing to teach the humble inquirer, or 
whether he will teach any thing but the truth, there 
might be some ground for the apprehension ; now there 
is none. Where then is the danger? Why a man may 
mistake his own fancies, or the dreams of another, for 
the teaching of the Holy Spirit of truth? So he may, 
and he ought to be the more earnest in his prayer to be 
delivered from all delusion and error. But can there be 
a better or more certain way of attaining to the truth, 
and holding it fast, than God himself has pointed out in 
his own word ? And why must a man who yields him- 
self to the teaching of the God of truth, be tossed about 
with every wind of doctrine ? Is the Bible so obscure and 
contradictory, as that men, without a human standard 
of interpretation, must needs be groping in the dark, re- 
main unsettled, and be the sport of every wind that 
blows ? The danger of such a result arises from man's 
natural lack of wisdom and holiness ; and what better 
means can a man employ to become holy and wise, than 
by yielding himself to the guidance and teaching of the 
Spirit of holiness and wisdom? Once more: What 
have they to establish them in the faith, who are fearful 
of being deceived, should they yield themselves to the 
teachings of the Spirit? Nothing, but the opinions of 
fallible men. 

The objector may ask, Are there then no truths of reli- 
gion which may be considered as settled ? Yes, there are 



175 



many ; indeed every truth taught in the Bible is settled 
and fixed, even as God has declared it. Some points 
of doctrine are to be found in all creeds and confessions 
of faith which Christians in general are agreed in receiv- 
ing as true. This fact we may regard as affording pri- 
ma facie evidence of the accordance of those doctrines 
with the oracles of God. But as to those doctrines, 
stated in the creeds of man's formation, upon which 
Christians differ, and on which the wise and the good are 
opposed to each other, how can they be deemed, by 
any portion of the church, as settled, except in the per- 
sonal conviction of the individuals concerned. These 
points have never been adjudicated by a lawful judge of 
controversy. A council of Presbyterians, all will ad- 
mit, is not a lawful judge of controversy to bind an Epis- 
copalian ; nor is a council of Calvinists competetent to 
bind Arminians. Even among those who belong to the 
same church, there is no lawful judge of controversy to 
determine any point of dispute on matters of religious 
belief. One man or a hundred men cannot believe for 
an individual of the same church. Each man must 
believe for himself; and as he is responsible to God for 
the correctness of his faith, he may not rest his belief 
on the opinion or adjudication of any man or body of 
men on earth. This principle does not subvert the right 
of a church to deny admission, or to expel from its com- 
munion those men who deny the faith once delivered to 
the saints, and embrace damnable heresies. We speak 
only of those matters upon which it is admitted that the 
wise and the good among the children of God hold dif- 
ferent sentiments ; and in reference to them, we aver 
that there is not even prima facie evidence which of the 
discordant opinions is correct, and of course every man 
must believe upon the strength of his own conviction. 



176 



It is only by returning to the primitive practice of 
searching the Scriptures, with reliance on the teaching 
of God alone, that the watchmen shall ever " see eye to 
eye." Under the prevalence of party pride, it is a point 
of honour among the contending sects which shall yield 
any portion of their opinions. Each adheres to his own, 
and of course, one or other must be perverting the 
Scriptures, to sustain their discordant creeds. The 
Holy Spirit alone can give men to feel the necessity of 
sitting more loose to their respective tenets. He can 
make them willing to stand still, throw aside all animo- 
sity, all pride of opinion, all desire of maintaining the 
mastery, and with ingenuous hearts to inquire " What 
does the word of God teach V 3 He can incline them to 
believe that on some points of difference, their adversa- 
ries may, after all, be right. He can breathe upon his 
children the fulness of his influence, and inspire them 
with that freedom of soul, which will enable them to re- 
joice in prospect of the triumph of truth, whether the 
result of that triumph be the establishment or the refuta- 
tion of their own opinions. Then free and candid dis- 
cussion, in the spirit of truth and meekness, will take 
place of proud and bitter controversy, and will be blessed 
to the increase of light, holiness, and love. 

The effects resulting from the general and constant 
reading of the Bible, the whole Bible, freed from the 
partialities of sect, and with humble prayer for the en- 
lightening and sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, 
will not only melt away the shibboleths of party, but will 
bring to the view of Christians the indispensable impor- 
tance of being constantly employed in the active, self- 
denying, and benevolent duties of Christianity. Every 
important truth and duty will thus be brought to the 



177 



mind and contemplation of ministers and private Chris- 
tians, as every part of the Scriptures shall be read in 
course by them, and studied. Had this been the general 
practice in ages past, the evils which now oppress the 
church of Christ, could never have attained their present 
magnitude, nor have been of long continuance. The 
Bible contains within itself the means of keeping the 
church free from corruptions, and of purifying her from 
them, when they have been permitted to come upon her. 
Of this truth the adversary is fully aware, and he exerts 
his utmost skill to keep the Bible from those who have 
it not, and to keep those who have it from the constant, 
prayerful reading of its precious contents. He has in- 
stigated the papal church to withhold the Scriptures from 
the laity, and virtually to lock it up from the eyes of the 
priesthood. He has been too successful in our divided 
protestant church, to turn the attention of Christians 
from the simple reading of the Bible, under tho teaching 
of the Holy Spirit, to our creeds, confessions of faith, 
systems of theology, sectarian commentaries, and me- 
taphysical speculations, to the subversion of the pure 
faith and practice of the gospel. 

We beg leave to close this head with an extract from 
a late work. " The study of the Scriptures, in their na- 
tive simplicity, and without the intermixture of the tech- 
nical language of theologians, and of party opinions, 
would be of vast importance in religion. It would con- 
vince the unbiassed inquirer how little foundation there 
is in the Scriptures themselves, for many of those dis- 
putes about metaphysical dogmas which have rent the 
Christian world into a number of shreds and patches, 
and produce jealousy and animosity, where love and 
affection should have appeared predominant. He w ould 



178 



soon be enabled to perceive that the system of revela- 
tion chiefly consists of a series of imporant facts, con- 
nected with the dispensations of God towards our race, 
and interwoven with a variety of practical and interest- 
ing truths, and that the grand design of the whole is to 
counteract the effects of moral evil, to display the true 
character of Deity, to promote love to God and man, to 
inculcate the practice of every heavenly virtue, and to 
form mankind into one harmonious and affectionate so- 
ciety. He would find none of the technical terms and 
phraseology which the schoolmen and others have intro- 
duced into their systems of theology, nor any of those 
anathemas which one sectary has so frequently levelled 
at another, applied to any one, excepting to those who 
do not love our Lord Jesus in sincerity." 

Till. Let Christians cherish the spirit of -prayer, ap- 
propriate to the vocigtncy of the times. 

We specify only one more of the means we advise to 
be pursued, in order to bring about the reunion of the 
church ; and that is to cherish the spirit of prayer, not 
merely in the general sense of the expression, but of 
prayer particularly appropriate to the time in which we 
live. One of these appropriate subjects of prayer, ob- 
viously is, that the contention in the church may cease, 
and that the intercessory prayer of the Saviour, that his 
disciples may all be one, may be speedily answered, in 
the prevalence of brotherly love and unity. As the 
means of accomplishing this result, we should pray most 
importunately that the Lord of the harvest may send 
forth labourers, competent labourers into his harvest. 

The church is at the present time in the most urgent 
need of a more devoted and efficient ministry of the gos- 



179 



pel, and much progress will not be made without a sup- 
ply of this deficiency. So long as the teachers of God's 
people continue to cherish the narrow views and feelings 
of sect, how can it be expected that their hearers will 
expand their minds to embrace the noble scheme of con- 
verting the world 1 So long as the minister does not 
take a lively interest in the benevolent enterprises of the 
day, and exert himself to awaken the same interest 
among his people, how can it be expected that Christians 
as a body will give their contributions or their prayers to 
the cause of evangelizing the nations in darkness ? So 
long as our young men in the ministry " seek first" a 
place of comfort and ease in which to serve their Mas- 
ter, how can we expect the laity to become self-denying 
Christians, living above the world, and devoting all they 
have to the promotion of Christ's kingdom 1 Much as 
we want men, yea, great numbers of men to preach the 
gospel of Christ, we verily believe that the church will 
be profited if our youth, before they enter upon the min- 
istry, would seriously and deliberately count the cost of 
assuming the work of the Lord, while destitute of the 
zeal and self-denial of Paul, of Brainerd, of Martyn, and 
of GutzlafF. For though all may not be wanted as mis- 
sionaries, all need to have the spirit of missions to an- 
swer the just expectations of Christ and his church. The 
field of labour is the world, and no minister of the gospel 
is excusable for not having at all times a map of the 
world in his eye, and for not being in the constant habit 
of exhibiting it to the people of his charge. There ought 
not to be a Christian ignorant of the monthly concert of 
prayer, nor of the progress of foreign and domestic mis- 
sions, nor of the destitute condition of the world in regard 
to Bibles and tracts, nor of what is doing to afford the 



180 



requisite supply. All ought to be well informed of the 
need of raising up more labourers for the harvest, and 
what is done toward that object by means of education 
societies and Sabbath schools. Every Christian ought, 
in short, to be acquainted with the moral wants of the 
world, and of the whole system of means for supplying 
those wants. And how shall all this be done where the 
bosom of the minister does not burn to advance the in? 
terests of Christ's kingdom, not merely within the nar- 
row bounds of his own parish, but throughout the whole 
earth 1 

To be an approved minister of Christ at the present 
time, a man must be constantly awake and active, keep- 
ing his eye without winking upon the great, noble, and 
absorbing object of converting the whole world to the 
faith and obedience of Christ. Such a man in every 
congregation would unite the hearts and efforts of Chris- 
tians in the common cause of religion. We should not 
then witness a small number, but a great assembly, at 
every monthly concert for prayer for the success of the 
gospel. Instead of cents we should see dollars poured 
into the treasury of the Lord. Instead of a few Christians 
who pray and give for the conversion of the nations, we 
should see the whole body united as much, certainly, as 
they are now united in praying and contributing for the 
support of the gospel at home. We should not then see 
whole congregations where it is scarcely known what 
the monthly concert on the first or second Monday in 
every month means, and where the concert of prayer for 
colleges has never been observed, or where the cause of 
seamen is never mentioned ; in a word, where the affec- 
tions, exertions, and contributions of the people are, with 
the exception of perhaps a few individuals, exclusively 



181 



directed to the petty concerns of their own parish, or at 
most to the relations of their own sect. How can we 
expect a blessing on the church, how can we hope that 
the great work of evangelizing the world, can ever be 
accomplished under such circumstances ? God requires, 
and he will have, the united prayers and efforts of his 
people for this object, before he will bring it to pass. 
However signally he may heretofore have answered the 
prayers of a few where those of multitudes ought to have 
ascended to him, we cannot reasonably expect the cause 
of universal religion at this day to flourish without the 
united prayers of God's people. There is too much light 
abroad on this subject to admit the belief that God will 
wink at the gross neglect of his ministers in giving the 
needful information, arousing the feelings and drawing 
forth the prayers of their parishioners for the universal 
prevalence of religion, as though it were a time of igno- 
rance. No, the presses of the country are teeming with 
books, pamphlets, newspapers, and tracts, which are 
pouring upon us a flood of light, which cannot but be 
seen by all who will open their eyes to behold it. At all 
events the faithful watchman upon the walls of Zion can- 
not plead ignorance, whatever may be pleaded by the 
people of his charge. It is only for the minister of Christ 
to exhibit to the people the light which is, so to speak, 
forced upon his vision, to enable them to see and feel it 
to be their duty and privilege to have their prayers and 
their alms come up for a memorial before God, that he 
may fill the earth with his salvation and his glory. ^ 

We live in a day of excitability. The wonderful events 
which have transpired, and are still transpiring before us 
in rapid succession, have awakened and are keeping 
alive the disposition to attend to those subjects which 
16 



182 



may be submitted to the minds of the people. There 
seems to be life infused into every thing, except those 
subjects which are of the greatest magnitude, and of the 
most immediate necessity. There is life even in these 
matters, but it is only among a few ; it is not diffused 
through the body of Christians. The externals of reli- 
gion are receiving an attention unwonted in former days. 
The erection of places of worship, attendance upon the 
public ordinances of Christianity, and outward respect 
for religion, seem in some measure to keep pace with 
the increased interest which is perceptible among men 
in regard to other subjects of attention ; but as to the 
true nature of a church, and the design of God in estab- 
lishing it, and the appropriate self-denying duties of 
Christianity, the professed worshippers of God seem still 
to be buried in the deep slumber which the dominion of 
sect has cast upon them. How shall the people awake 
while the watchmen are asleep, and forbear to sound the 
trumpet, showing the people what God requires of them 
in this day and generation ] 

Oh, how much reason, then, have we to cherish the 
spirit of prayer, and especially that God would bless his 
church with a more devoted and efficient ministry of the 
gospel, to the end that a holy light and influence may be 
diffused through the church, and hasten the restoration 
of primitive love, unity, and holiness ! 



183 



CHAPTER VIIL 



OF THE OPERATION AND RESULT OF TH 
MEANS TO BE EMPLOYED. 



Some endeavour has already been made to show the 
tendency of the means recommended in the two preced- 
ing chapters, to bring about the avowed object of this 
work. This topic, however, seems to deserve a more 
particular consideration, and a more connected view ; 
and we shall endeavour to do it as succinctly as a dis- 
tinct expression of our views will permit. 

It may be apprehended by some that the proposal 
made to heal the dissensions in the church, will produce 
more distraction and mischief than will be prevented by 
it. We admit that a naked proposal to abolish sects, 
without pointing out the manner and means of effecting 
it, might occasion great detriment instead of profit, and 
confusion instead of order. Some men of corrupt minds, 
loving distinction or lucre more than the religion of the 
Bible, on perceiving a growing inclination among Chris- 
tians to forget their past differences, may regard it as a 



184 



favourable occasion to form a new party in the church, 
to be composed of all sects, and thus add another to 
the many denominations already existing. Or a like 
unfortunate step might be taken by some of the real 
friends of religion, possessing more of zeal than of pru- 
dence. Such men, convinced of the evils of division, 
and not apprized of the necessity of labour and pains to 
prepare the minds of men for so great a revolution in 
their opinions, habits, and practices, might hastily pro- 
pose the formation of churches to embrace all who love 
the Lord Jesus in sincerity. 

Such measures as these we sincerely deprecate. No 
good, but much detriment, would result from them. Any 
movement towards amalgamation, before a great change 
shall have been effected in the feelings of the different 
parties, would but produce an order of professed believ- 
ers of the same description with those Corinthians who 
affirmed that they were of Christ, and whom the apostle 
reproves as schismatics, equally with those who profess- 
ed to be the followers of Paul, of Apollos, and Cephas. 
The whole scheme of restoring the unity of the church, 
if not entirely defeated, would be greatly retarded. That 
such evils may result from the attempt we propose, to 
form a union of Christians, constitutes no objection to 
the plan itself. ISTo reformation or enterprise of any 
kind is or can be free from the danger of being impeded, 
and even thwarted, by the precipitancy of zealots, who 
either do not understand, or do not regard the views of 
the projector; and if no scheme, however laudable, 
practicable, or important, can with propriety be pre- 
sented to the public, that is not susceptible of abuse, or 
liable to miscarry, from the ignorance or perverseness 



185 



of men, then must we needs abandon every hope of 
ameliorating the condition of man. 

That the proposal to restore Christian union is in it- 
self unobjectionable and praiseworthy, nay, that it is a 
plain duty resting upon the friends of the church, has, 
we hope, been sufficiently shown* We trust also that 
the means for accomplishing the object which we have 
ventured to suggest, are in themselves proper, harmless, 
free from all objection, and that they possess an adaptation 
to accomplish the end proposed. Other means better 
adapted to the purpose may, in the providence of God, 
be developed after the reformation shall have been com- 
menced. And even now, there may be individual 
Christians who have more discernment, or have bestow- 
ed more thought upon the subject than we have, to 
whose minds a better course of means may have been 
suggested. One object of the publication of this work, 
is to invite attention to the great subject of Christian 
union, to induce Christians to reflect upon it, and to 
bring out the result of their thoughts before the religious 
world, that others may have the benefit of the light 
which they possess. f 

We certainly do not claim to have presented to the 
public a new- doctrine. Far from it. The principles 
we have laboured to establish in the preceding pages, 
have always had advocates, ever since the protestant 
church has fallen from the unity in which the reforma- 
tion commenced, and in which it has been left by Christ, 
his apostles, and the primitive Christians. But the 
voice of truth has been drowned by the noise of contro- 
versy and fierce contention, and the Christian world has 
now for so long a time been under the influence of sect, 
that what is truly a plain doctrine of the Bible, and has 
16* 



186 



always been believed in by some, sounds upon the ear 
of the generality of Christians as though it were entirely 
new. It seemed therefore proper that the proposal to 
reunite the broken ranks of Christians should be accom- 
panied with as ample a discussion of the question of duty* 
as they would probably be inclined to read, and as though 
the principles advanced were entirely new. 

If this work should succeed in receiving a good mea- 
sure of attention from the Christian public, the principal 
object of the author will be accomplished. Men of 
superior minds will examine for themselves, and we have 
no fear, but that the result of an impartial examination 
will lead them to the same conviction to which we have 
come ourselves. And this conviction will not fail to be 
communicated to others through the press, from the pul- 
pit, and otherwise. In this manner, a flood of light 
will in few years break in upon the vision of the Chris- 
tian public, and the great, important truth of the unity of 
the church, and the consequent duty of union among all 
its members, which has so long remained buried in the 
darkness of sect, will find its way into the minds of 
God's children. And the force which the truth will 
exert upon them will be great ; especially as it is a truth 
plainly revealed, of vital importance to the interests of 
religion, and which condemns their past opinions, ha- 
bits, and practice, and brings the whole Christian com- 
munity now living, with a long line of revered fathers 
and predecessors, under the sentence of having departed 
from the truth and way of the Lord. This must produce 
deep sorrow that they, their friends, and ancestors have 
inflicted so much injury upon the church and cause of 
God, and must be followed with a humble confession of 
the sin, and induce them to raise earnest supplications 



187 

for pardon, and for direction and grace, that henceforth 
they may be guided in the way of the peculiar duty God 
now requires of them, to retrace past errors. 

This frame of mind cannot fail to prepare those who 
possess it, for the communication of the Lord's favour to 
them. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but 
he that confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. 
Prov. xxviii. 13. The Lord will have compassion on 
his penitent children ; he will hear their cry for pardon, 
and according to the abundance of his mercy, he will 
forgive. He will hearken to their supplications to be 
guided thenceforth in the path of obedience to his require- 
ments, and he will graciously show them the way. 
He will teach them, according to his own wisdom and 
goodness, what further means are to be employed to 
induce the whole community of Christians to cast away 
their party prejudices, and reform their sectarian habits, 
and to bring them cordially into the holy bond of Chris- 
tian union. 

Another of the means which we have advised to aid 
the progress of the reformation, is that all the friends of 
the church should abstain from unprofitable controversy, 
on the points of dispute between them. Who will be dis- 
posed to deny that controversy not only alienates the 
affections, and promotes disunion, but prevents the 
genuine operation of grace to draw together the disciples 
of the Lord and Saviour. Let this agent of discord be 
hushed into silence, and you remove a great obstacle to 
the flow of mutual love in Christian bosoms, to the de- 
sire of peace, the holding of communion in praise, 
thanksgiving, and prayer, and the union of counsel and 
effort. It cannot be long after the cessation of the need- 
less and unavailing disputes which now are prevalent, 



188 



that the possessors of the same essential faith will per- 
ceive how trifling in their character are those differences 
which now serve the purpose of the great adversary to 
cherish jealousy, envy, anger, and schism among them, 
and how numerous and precious are the doctrines and 
truths respecting which they are of the same mind, and 
speak the same thing. 

The next means which we have specified in the two 
preceding chapters, as conducive to the restoration of 
Christian union, is, that the church receive her members 
and license ministers of the gospel, upon the principles 
recognised and taught in the Bible ; namely, that mem- 
bers be received when they give evidence that they are 
actual members of the spiritual body of Christ ; and 
that ministers be licensed when they exhibit evidence of 
their qualifications to win souls to Christ, to edify be- 
lievers, and honour the ministry by a holy walk. The 
adoption of these principles will be greatly facilitated, 
after the spirit of controversy shall have died away. 
That the reception of church members, and licensure of 
ministers upon these catholic grounds, will have a strong 
tendency to allay the spirit of party, and promote the 
union of Christian hearts, must be evident to even a 
superficial thinker. A true disciple of Christ, wherever 
his lot may be cast, will desire to associate with those 
of like mind, to put himself under the watchful care of 
some church, as well as to partake of its ordinances and 
privileges. If he cannot be freely received where he 
sees the prospect of deriving the most of spiritual bene- 
fit, it requires much of grace to preserve towards the 
members of that church the same measure of Christian 
affection, which he would in case he had been received 
by them. And on the other hand, it is extremely diffi- 



189 



cult for the members of any church, to banish from their 
minds a sense of superiority over such as are deemed un- 
qualified to be received among their number. By adopting 
a more liberal course, these unpleasant feelings and 
causes of alienation will be avoided, and a more friendly 
spirit will be promoted. The shibboleths of party must 
soon melt away, after they shall cease to be applied in 
practice, in the admission of church members, and the 
licensing of ministers of the gospel. Room will at once 
be left for an increasing prevalence of the sentiment so 
often repeated in the Bible, that all believers in Christ 
form but one body, and stand upon a footing of equality, 
and that the ban of exclusion must be applied only to 
the heretic, the hypocrite, and the corrupt. 

And thus will be removed one of the barriers to the 
observance of an important duty, which we have also 
placed among the means of restoring Christian union, 
namely, to cherish the holy feeling of love to believers 
of every denomination. That the performance of this 
duty will hasten the abolition of sectarian feelings and 
distinctions, is almost too evident to admit of any illus- 
tration. That it is a practicable duty will not be denied, 
when we reflect that our affections are much under the 
control of our faculties. The consciousness that we are 
bound to love another, will oftentimes be the means of 
producing that love, even against the power of strong 
previous antipathies. A sense of the duty will lead us, 
not only to look more narrowly into the substantial rea- 
sons of the requirement, and the principles on which it 
is founded, but will move us to palliate and make every 
allowance for the imperfections and faults of the indivi- 
dual, and to seek out and dwell upon their good and 
amiable qualities. Many, very many considerations 



190 



will crowd upon the mind of a Christian, why he should 
love his brother in Christ, whenever he shall have fully 
yielded to the conviction that it is his duty to love him, 
and understand the measure in which that love should 
be exercised, and thus will be produced in the Christian 
bosom the very affection he desires to cultivate and 
cherish. 

The active and liberal support of the benevolent so- 
cieties of the day, we have also enumerated among the 
means of terminating the schisms in the church of 
Christ. And we know of no- means which are more 
happily adapted to unite the hearts and the exertions of 
God's people. Every volume of the Holy Scriptures 
issued from the American Bible Society, — every tract 
distributed from the American Tract Society, — every 
book which comes from the press of the American Sun- 
day School Union, — every missionary sent forth by the 
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- 
sions, or by the Home Missionary Society, — every 
preacher or spiritual labourer employed by the Seamen's 
Friend Society, — is looked upon as a servant of Jesus 
Christ, to promote his kingdom throughout the world, 
and not as an instrument to advance the interests of a 
petty sect. Every instance of success achieved by the 
agency thus employed, is considered as won for the 
cause of universal religion, instead of a victory for a 
small section of the church. The thousands of readers 
of the publications detailing the acts and proceedings of 
these benevolent institutions, have a common feeling of 
interest in the information thus communicated. They 
rejoice together, when they witness the liberality of 
Christians in supporting these charities, when they read 
of doors of usefulness opened to their efforts, of the 



191 



smiles of God upon their contributions and exertions, in 
calling sinners to repentance in lands of darkness and 
desolation. They sympathize together, when they hear 
of sickness and death among the agents of their bene- 
volence, or of any untoward event to impede the holy 
cause they are striving to advance. They meet together 
at the monthly concert, to render thanks to God for 
success afforded, to humble themselves before him under 
any rebuke or adverse providence, and to supplicate his 
aid and direction in the future conduct of their enter- 
prises. And in the larger multitudes which annually 
convene at our religious anniversaries, in the principal 
cities, while listening to the reports of what has been 
done, and contemplated to be done, they become elated 
with the same hopes, and moved with the same desires, 
they offer the same prayers, and rentier the same thanks- 
givings. It is on such occasions that liberal Christians 
experience fulness of joy, and their breasts heave with 
anxious desire that every believer may be blessed with 
a still fuller measure. It is then that they know how to 
pity the scantiness of that enjoyment which is felt by him 
who cannot expand his heart beyond the bounds of his 
own denomination. They long for a return of those 
seasons which have such a happy influence in binding 
together the hearts of God's children, in the sweet ties 
of brotherly love. How easy and natural is it for such 
as only for a few years continue to act together, in the 
promotion of these holy charities, to desire and strive to 
effect an entire union of affection, counsel, action, and 
name, so that they may be one, as Christ and the Father 
are one. .They soon begin to wonder why there should 
be any separation between them, why they have so long 
been strangers to each other, and what there is to pre- 



192 



vent a complete union. The chains of sect, once so 
strong, appear to them lilliputian ties which cannot hold 
them in distinct communities, and which, like the cords 
wherewith the Philistines bound Samson, when the Spi- 
rit of the Lord came mightily upon him, become as flax 
that is burnt with fire. 

The primitive Christians read the books of the Old 
and New Testament, expecting, with the teaching of the 
Holy Spirit, to find therein sufficient direction to instruct 
them in the doctrines and practice of Christianity. It 
will be readily perceived how directly and powerfully it 
would promote the union of believers, should this man- 
ner of reading the Scriptures become the general habit 
among them. This is one of the means we have speci- 
fied in the preceding chapter, and is, we believe, among 
the most important. If it were once adopted, it would 
soon appear plain that all the attempts which have been 
made to reduce the language of the Bible to greater pre- 
cision and certainty have grossly failed to advance the 
cause of truth, and have rather served to darken counsel 
by words without knowledge ; and that however heretics 
may conceal their corrupt opinions by adhering to the 
words of the Bible, that yet, after all, the best way of 
stating the revealed mind of God is to use the expres- 
sions which have been dictated by the Holy Ghost, the 
source and fountain of light and wisdom. It would more- 
over be seen that many disputes have agitated and rent 
the church, which originated not from any obscurity or 
uncertainty in the words employed in the Scriptures, but 
from the ingenuity and presumption of men, who, whe- 
ther unwittingly or otherwise, sought to be wise above 
what is written, and to pry into things which God has 
seen best not to reveal or explain. All, reading and 



193 



studying the same standard of faith and practice in the 
simplicity which God himself has given it, without at- 
tempting to bend its meaning to the respective creeds, 
confessions, and systems of the church, they will of ne- 
cessity become more of the same mind and of the same 
judgement. Then too it will become apparent how much 
of the Bible is taken up in inculcating peace, love, and 
unity, and how much there is in it of dissuasion from 
jealousies, disputes, contentions, and divisions among 
brethren of the same family. By the continued perusal 
of the Scriptures, it will also be learned of how little va- 
lue are all abstract opinions, however correct, except as 
they lead to a more acceptable worship and service of 
God, and a more benevolent behaviour towards man. 

The union of Christians will also be materially aided 
when they shall abound in prayer to God appropriate to 
the present wants of the church, and especially for a 
more devoted and efficient ministry of the gospel. God 
is doubtless pleased with the petitions of his people, when 
they bring before him their precise wants. He wishes 
them to be acquainted with all their wants, to feel their 
need of help, and then ask him to give it. When, there- 
fore, under a deep sense of the sin and evils of schism, 
and the duty and blessedness of living in the unity of the 
Spirit, in the bond of peace, they shall ask his guidance 
and assistance, the most happy results may be expected 
from the promises and faithfulness of their heavenly Fa- 
ther. And since a return to the primitive unity of the 
church, and indeed its prosperity in all its relations, de- 
pends so much on a devoted and efficient ministry, when 
the disciples shall feel the want of such a ministry, they 
will not only pray, but labour and expect to obtain it. 
We doubtless receive in proportion to the extent of our 
17 



194 



desires, petitions, and efforts. " Open thy mouth and I 
will fill it." Did they but perceive with anxiety the ne- 
cessity of a more catholic ministry, with minds enlarged 
to comprehend the wants of the world, and forgetting the 
narrow circle of their sectarian relations, they would ask 
and strive for, and be supplied with such a ministry ; for 
God will not give them a stone when they ask for bread, 
nor when they ask for a fish will he give them a scor- 
pion. 

The tendency of most, if not all the means we have 
specified, it must be admitted, is to increase the amount 
and raise the standard of piety in the church ; and we 
are confident that whatever shall produce this happy re- 
sult will also promote the union of Christians. We are 
apprized that in the strenuous exertions now made by^ 
synods, presbyteries, and other ecclesiastical bodies of 
several denominations, to strengthen the attachment of 
their people to their own peculiar tenets, rites, and forms 
of government, they enumerate among the means to ac- 
complish this end, the attainment of a more elevated 
standard of Christian character. It is matter of rejoic- 
ing that public bodies of such diverse views and senti- 
ments agree in recommending a measure of such excel- 
lence, although it would have been more satisfactory to 
have learned from them what they precisely mean by it. 
If they understand by a more elevated standard of piety 
the same thing that we do, namely, a greater conformity 
of heart and life to the requirements of God's word, then 
we venture to affirm that when this point shall have been 
attained, instead of confirming their people in the love of 
sectarian peculiarities, their minds will have become ex- 
panded to see the folly and sin of such attachment, and 
to embrace the more noble and scriptural principle of 



195 



Christian unity. The tendency of deep piety to promote 
this union is happily illustrated by the Rev. Andrew Reed 
of London, lately on a mission of love to this country, 
designed to strengthen the bond of union between Brit- 
ish and American Christians. We allude to a mission- 
ary sermon preached by him in his own country some 
two or three years ago, entitled, " Eminent Piety essen- 
tial to Eminent Usefulness." We have read the sermon 
with much pleasure, and regret that we have not a copy 
at hand to select some quotations. We have, however, 
recently met with a pretty full expression of the views of 
Robert Hall on the same point, and cannot deny our- 
selves the gratification of giving the following extract, 
for the length of which the reader will find himself amply 
compensated, when he shall have witnessed its pertinen- 
cy, elegance, and force : " That union among Christians 
which it is so desirable to recover, must, we are persua- 
ded, be the result of something more heavenly and di- 
vine, than legal restraints, or angry controversies. Un- 
less an angel were to descend for that purpose, the spirit 
of division is a disease which will never be healed by 
troubling the waters. We must expect the cure from 
the increasing prevalence of religion, and from a copious 
communication of the Spirit to produce that event. A 
more extensive diffusion of piety among all sects and 
parties, will be the best and only preparation for a cor- 
dial union. Christians will then be disposed to appre- 
ciate their differences more equitably, to turn their chief 
attention to points on which they agree, and in conse- 
quence of loving each other more, to make every con- 
cession consistent with a good conscience. Instead of 
wishing to vanquish others, every one will be desirous of 
being vanquished by the truth. An awful fear of God, 



196 



and an exclusive desire of discovering his mind, will hold 
a torch before them in their inquiries, which will strange- 
ly illuminate the path in which they tread. In the room 
of being repelled by mutual antipathy, they will be insen- 
sibly drawn nearer to each other by the ties of mutual 
attachment. A larger measure of the spirit of Christ 
would prevent them from converting every incidental va- 
riation into an impassable boundary ; or from condemn- 
ing the most innocent and laudable usages for fear of 
symbolizing with another class of Christians. The ge- 
neral prevalence of piety in different communities would 
inspire that mutual respect, that heartfelt homage for the 
virtues conspicuous in the character of these respective 
members, which would urge us to ask with astonishment 
and regret, Why cannot we be one ? What is it that ob- 
structs our union ? Instead of maintaining the barrier 
which separates us from each other, and employing our- 
selves in fortifying the frontiers of hostile communities, 
we should be anxiously devising the means of narrowing 
the grounds of dispute, by drawing the attention of all 
parties to those fundamental and catholic principles in 
which they concur. 

" To this we may add that a more perfect subjection 
to the authority of the great Head of the church, would 
restrain men from inventing new terms of communion, 
from lording it over conscience, or from exacting a scru- 
pulous compliance with things which the word of God 
has left indifferent. That sense of imperfection we 
ought ever to cherish, would incline us to be looking up 
for superior light, and make us think it not improbable 
that, in the long night which has befallen us, we have all 
more or less mistaken our way, and have much to learn 
and much to correct. The very idea of identifying a 



197 



particular party with the church would be exploded ; the 
foolish clamour about schism hushed, and no one, how- 
ever mean and inconsiderable, be expected to surrender 
his conscience to the claims of ecclesiastical dominion. 
The New Testament is surely not so obscure a book, 
that were its contents to fall into the hands of a hundred 
serious, impartial men, it would produce such opposite 
conclusions as must necessarily ensue, in their forming 
two or more separate communions. It is remarkable, 
indeed, that the chief points about which real Christians 
are divided, are points on which that volume is silent — 
mere human fabrications, which the presumption of men 
has attached to the Christian system. A larger commu- 
nication of the Spirit of truth, would insensibly lead 
Christians into a similar train of thinking ; and being 
rrlore under the guidance of that infallible teacher, they 
would gradually tend to the same point, and settle in the 
same conclusions. Without such an influence as this, 
the coalescing into one communion would probably be 
productive of much mischief; it certainly would do no 
sort of good, since it would be the mere result of intole- 
rance and pride acting upon indolence and fear. 

" During the present disjointed state of things, then, 
nothing remains but for every one, to whom the care of 
any part of the church of Christ is intrusted, to exert him- 
self to the utmost in the promotion of vital religion, in 
cementing the friendship of the good, and repressing, 
with a firm and steady hand, the heats and eruptions of 
party spirit. He will find sufficient employment for his 
time and his talents in inculcating the great truths of the 
gospel, and endeavouring to form Christ in his hearers, 
without blowing the flames of contention, or widening 
the breach which is already the disgrace and the calami- 
17* 



198 



ty of the Christian name. Were our efforts uniformly to 
take this direction, there would be an identity in the im- 
pression made by religious instruction ; the distortion of 
party features would gradually disappear, and Christians 
would every where approach towards that ideal beauty 
spoken of by painters, which is combined of the finest 
lines and traits conspicuous in individual forms. Since 
they have all drunk into the same spirit, it is manifest 
nothing is wanting but a larger portion of that spirit to lay 
the foundation of a solid, cordial union. It is to the im- 
moderate attachment to secular interest, the love of 
power, and the want of reverence for truth, not to the 
obscurities of revelation, we must impute the unhappy 
contentions among Christians, maladies which nothing 
can correct but deep and genuine piety." 

As has been already intimated, we have not enumera- 
ted all the means which we believe adapted to accom- 
plish the reunion of the friends of Christ. We have spe- 
cified what may rather be called the incipient measures 
to prepare the minds of Christians to adopt those of a 
more decisive and effective character, bearing more di- 
rectly upon the final result. Should the Lord smile upon 
those which we have pointed out, other means will soon 
come in aid of them to hasten the work. 

Among these will be the discontinuance of that secta- 
rian training which is now given to children by parents, 
and even some Sabbath schools, and by ministers to their 
congregations. If we should weigh the prospect of the 
final accomplishment of the scheme of reunion, we would 
name this as the most important of them all, and as hold- 
ing the same place in this, as the principle of total absti- 
nence does in the temperance reformation. We should 
have placed it in the list of means in the preceding chap- 



199 



ters, had we not been persuaded that with the greater 
portion of the religious community it will not be adopted 
in the inceptive stage of the work. But to those who are 
prepared to hear it, we hesitate not to recommend it as 
a step to be taken at the very commencement, being 
convinced that wherever it is adopted the progress of the 
enterprise must be very rapid. As long as parents con- 
tinue to inculcate upon their children, Sabbath school 
teachers upon their pupils, and ministers upon their peo- 
ple, the superior excellence and the scriptural authority 
of the tenets and forms of the denomination to which 
they belong, how can they ever become weaned from 
their attachment to sectarian peculiarities and distinc- 
tions, and how can they ever desire to draw closer the 
bond of union among God's children? As well might 
you expect to see sobriety prevail in a family where the 
cup of intoxication is daily ministered to its inmates. 
Whenever this sectarian training, by means of the cate- 
chisms and formularies of the churches, or through the 
sermons of the preacher, shall be abandoned, the very 
aliment of sectarianism will be withdrawn. The Bible 
then will be read without prejudice on the conflicting 
points that separate different denominations, and the truth 
of God will more probably be ascertained. But so long 
as that sectarian training is continued, we see not how, 
without a moral miracle, union ever can take place. 

And why cannot this be done ? Why need a Presby- 
terian, whether minister, parent, or Sabbath school teach- 
er, say any thing about the doctrine of election or perse- 
verance to his people, or children, or scholars ? Why 
need a Methodist say any thing about falling from grace? 
Is either doctrine, if true, necessary to the salvation of 
the soul? And is not the " prima facie" evidence of the 



200 



truth of the one as great as that of the other, when the 
piety and talents of the respective denominations are 
weighed ? Is it not worth the while of both, to give op- 
portunity to the generation that shall rise up under their 
influence, to form their sentiments impartially upon those 
points which divide to so great an extent the Christian 
world 1 Has not one denomination as much reason to 
think itself right as another % 

Other means of an effective character will not fail to 
succeed. The periodical press, instead of advancing 
the interests of sect, will advocate the necessity of abo- 
lishing them. Books of a more liberal and catholic 
stamp will take the place of such as are of a more exclu- 
sive character. More pains will be taken to increase the 
amount of general and useful knowledge, and the igno- 
rance, which is so well adapted to cherish the narrow 
views and feelings of sect, be dispelled. The entire as- 
pect of things will in a short time be changed. The 
whole current of feeling will run into a different channel. 
Christians of all names will see how nearly they are 
agreed in all the essentials of religion, and how unim- 
portant are the differences which have so long kept them 
at variance. Intolerance will then be succeeded by the 
grace of forbearance, and the noise of contention hushed 
into silence by the spirit of conciliation. The Scriptures 
read in this frame of mind will vindicate their own plain- 
ness and certainty, after having been so long obscured 
through the folly, delusion, and perverseness of men. 

The cautious reader, we are aware, may fail to per- 
ceive the sufficiency of all the means we have hitherto 
specified, to work so great a revolution as that which is 
requisite to place the church on the basis of its primitive 
unity. He may admit that an important amelioration 



201 



would take place in the state of Christian feeling, if only- 
those means were employed which we have advised, or 
even if a part of them were adopted ; but difficulties may 
still remain, which in his view are not only serious, but 
insurmountable. He may ask, How is the union to be 
ultimately effected ? Which of the denominations will 
be willing to make the first overture ? Will the union, 
when formed, be based on the broad ground of the Scrip- 
tures, or will a short creed be adopted, embracing the 
cardinal doctrines of the Christian religion upon which 
the different sects are now agreed 1 And may there not 
be difficulty in settling what these cardinal doctrines shall 
be, and whether they shall embrace three, four, or more 
points ? And after all these matters are settled, it may 
be asked, which of the several forms of government now 
in use will be adopted for the united church? And how 
will the present differences of sentiment hrregard to rites 
and forms be reconciled ? 

We remark, in answer to these questions, that the dif- 
ficulties above suggested, and all others that may be 
imagined, lie exclusively in the frame of mind of the par- 
ties at variance. While distance, jealousy, controversy, 
and alienation of heart, continue to subsist between the 
different sects, the obstacles to their reunion will remain 
insuperable ; but whenever these evil affections shall be 
removed, or materially modified, then the difficulty of a 
total reconciliation is reduced almost entirely to a matter 
of opinion on the question of duty or interest. Wlien na- 
tions, for instance, are at war, a pacification is hopeless 
while the spirit of hostility prevails. As soon as this sub- 
sides the disposition to peace will return, and the point 
of honour which shall make the first overture is readily 
forgotten, preliminary difficulties are easily removed, the 



202 



questions of interest, supposed or real, are discussed in 
the spirit of conciliation ; and when these are settled the 
terms of the treaty are easily adjusted. How often and 
how suddenly, sometimes, have nations been induced in 
this manner to terminate the most deadly hostilities ! So 
a husband and wife, living in a state of separation, (and 
they may, not inaptly, be comparedto the divided church,) 
will resist all attempts to bring them to live together in 
peace, so long as they indulge in feelings of opposition 
or alienation. But means may be employed to produce 
between them a better feeling, and as soon as this is ef- 
fected, they will not only perceive that it is their duty to 
be agreed and live together as becometh man and wife, 
but they will be anxious to remove every impediment 
that may be in the way, and then the result of a happy 
reconciliation may be confidently expected. In like man- 
ner means may be employed to change the current of 
feeling which at present subsists among the scattered 
disciples, whom their Lord has united in a bond as inti- 
mate as that between husband and wife ; and some of 
the means we have enumerated will be conceded to have 
a tendency to effect the object. When once the state of 
heart is brought about which the Scriptures require, and 
teach to be attainable, no points of honour will remain to 
be settled, no scruples left as to who shall make the first 
overture ; the terms and basis of the union cannot long 
remain obstacles in the way of those who have essen- 
tially the same faith, and are baptized into the same spi- 
rit. If it shall be deemed necessary or proper to state a 
few essential points of doctrine as the basis of union, 
what can hinder them from agreeing what they shall be, 
and to forbear one another on all minor differences ? 
The form of government for the church which has oc- 



203 



casioned so much of controversy, and which may now 
seem so formidable a difficulty in the way of Christian 
union, will appear comparatively a matter of small con- 
sequence, unless it shall be found so definitively settled 
in the word of God as to preclude honest differences of 
opinion between those who love the truth. At all events, 
when the minds of men shall have become more mould- 
ed into the spirit of the gospel, they will search the Scrip- 
tures to ascertain whether the form of church govern- 
ment is therein prescribed, and if it is, they will honestly 
admit the truth. If it shall be found that it is not, the 
question of expediency will be the only topic of discus- 
sion remaining, and will be settled, we apprehend, with- 
out serious difficulty. The same remark may be made 
in regard to the rituals of the church, which, as well as 
the mode of its government, cannot be said to belong to 
the essentials of religion, being only the means of secu- 
ring those things which are of more value, namely, the 
blessings of religion themselves. Possibly a form of 
government may be adopted for the united church dif- 
ferent from any that now exists in any of the denomina- 
tions. The time surely has not now come to attempt to 
settle this and the matter of rituals. When the church 
shall be prepared to enter upon these questions, every 
difficulty may have already melted away. It is now im- 
possible to conceive with what facility the breaches in 
the household of Christ will be healed, when it shall be 
acknowledged and felt as an important and evident truth 
taught in the Scriptures, that they must be agreed — that 
there may be no divisions between them. When once 
the spirit of love shall have re-entered the church, the 
tendency to union, which is already strong in many Chris- 
tian bosoms at the present time, will become irresistible, 



204 



remove impediments, and mow down obstacles. Then 
will brethren employ themselves with more diligence, 
alacrity, earnestness, and perseverance, in demolishing 
the walls of partition, than they formerly were, or now 
are, in erecting and strengthening them. Then may the 
Almighty also be expected to bring the wonderful work- 
ings of his providence to aid the efforts of his children, 
until every difficulty shall be removed, and the reunion 
of his people accomplished. 

Having in this work endeavoured to convince our 
Christian friends of a duty which, we are assured, most 
of them had not previously realized, it has been our de- 
sign not only to prove the duty itself to be clearly incum- 
bent upon them, but to show further that the performance 
of the duty will be followed with success. In order to 
this, we have placed before them the means of effecting 
this object, and have endeavoured to trace the operation 
of those means until the final result of the reunion of the 
church shall be accomplished. We admit it to be rea- 
sonable, in general, that an author who undertakes to 
convince the community of the duty of effecting a refor* 
mation, the benefit of which shall be common to all, 
should also give all the light he possesses as to the means 
and mode of its accomplishment, and thereby excite suf- 
ficient confidence in the practicability of the scheme, to 
induce others to embark in it. Yet we doubt whether on 
the present occasion the Christian public could with pro- 
priety require more at our hands, than to show that the 
union of believers on the original basis ordained of Christ, 
would be pleasing to God — and that he must be dis- 
pleased with their neglecting to effect this union. Were 
it a matter plainly beyond their reach or power, they 
might conscientiously leave it either wholly undone, or 



205 



urge the performance of it upon others, who could not 
plead the same exemption. But here we propose a mat- 
ter of common interest to every member of the church, 
for upon every one the duty of working the reform ne- 
cessarily devolves, and not one can claim an excuse on 
the ground that others ought to perform it. The duty 
must either be acknowledged by Christians, or they must 
assume the impracticability of the scheme as the reason 
why they are excusable from action. And an assump- 
tion of this kind we apprehend they have no right to 
make. The duty itself, aside from the question of its 
practicability, is very clear. Can any Christian then be 
permitted to say, I may safely lie idle until some one 
shall prove that the execution of the plan is practicable ? 
No ; it is as much his duty as that of any other, to con- 
trive the proper means to effect it, and to remove the 
difficulties and obstacles ; and he cannot conscientious- 
ly fold his arms in inaction until he has exhausted his re- 
sources to discover those means, and satisfied himself 
that the object, however desirable, is unattainable. He 
cannot have the right to sit still and turn a deaf ear to the 
call of duty, until some one shall voluntarily come to give 
him the instruction he ought to seek for himself. We 
infer from these remarks, that our readers ought not to 
reject the proposal made in this work, even if we have 
failed to strip the question of its practicability of every 
difficulty. We even claim the right of calling on them, 
as fellow Christians, possessing the same interest as 
ourselves in the success of the reformation, to aid us with 
their advice and countenance in the removal of every 
impediment. The point of duty, we repeat, is exceed- 
ingly clear. The state of the church is wrong. She is 
divided, but ought to be united. She was one as origi- 
18 



206 



nally constituted, — she will be one in heaven, — and 
Christians of every denomination believe that she will 
be one again on earth. Whenever that shall take place, 
the difficulties in the way of her reunion will have been 
previously removed, in the providence of God, we admit, 
but not by the exercise of his miraculous power. This 
is not expected by any. The work will have been done 
by human instrumentality. It must be done by Chris- 
tians, for the enemies of religion will never do it. A 
great and arduous work is to be accomplished, which 
requires the aid of all who can be brought to take a 
part. What Christian, then, can claim to be exempt 
from assuming his share in it 1 None may wait till they 
hear a voice from heaven commanding them what they 
must do, nor until the road has been cleared of its 
obstructions, by such as are more industrious and obe- 
dient, or less fearful and unbelieving. We may not 
plead our own wrong state of mind, as an excuse for 
the neglect of our duties. 

It is moreover a present duty. How can we allege 
that we may lie still until the more formidable obstacles 
are removed, when it is our duty to remove them our- 
selves without delay, and when we have no authority to 
command another to remove them for us? Nothing 
can be gained by postponing the commencement of the 
work; for the evil is meanwhile increasing, and the 
difficulties are multiplying. While the church continues 
in its present distracted state, the name of God is dis- 
honoured, the body of Christ bleeds afresh at every pore, 
and sinners are plunging by millions into hell. What 
reason, then, can possibly be alleged against the com- 
mencement of the work now, which will not hold good 
to the end of time ? " The fearful and the unbelieving," 



207 



as well as the indolent, always cry the time is not yet, 
and if there were not some of more courage, stronger 
faith, and greater diligence, every attempt to reform 
what is amiss would fail, through the pretence that the 
time has not fully come ; and if they were to be the judg- 
es, the time never would come. The time to set about 
the correction of an evil, is when you become sensible 
of its existence. The choice of time which is left to 
those upon whom the duty of performing the work de- 
volves, has no application to the period when the work 
is to commence, but only to the order of the various 
means and steps in the process of its accomplishment. 

Again, there is always more or less of distance and 
darkness between the commencement and accomplish- 
ment of every great enterprise. None has ever been 
entered upon with an unclouded prospect of success. 
The malignity of sin is apparent from the very difficulty 
of removing its effects ; and God may often refuse to 
give immediate and easy success to the efforts of his 
children, to suppress the evils that afflict the church or 
the world, lest they should have inadequate views of the 
inveterate nature of disobedience to his laws and require- 
ments. So that in all attempts to reform evils of any 
magnitude, it is necessary to exercise faith in God, and 
watch for the development which his providence may 
bring about. If we are unwilling to do this, and insist 
on his making our way plain before us, the whole length 
of the journey, ere we consent to enter upon it, we re- 
fuse to trust him further than the limited extent of our 
own vision will reach. The patriarch Abraham, when 
he was commanded to leave his kindred and the land of 
his fathers, to sojourn in a strange country, certainly 
did not foresee the manner of surmounting every diffi- 



208 

culty that lay in his way, or of sustaining every trial be 
might be called to endure. But he did not hesitate to 
obey the command ; he believed God, and was pros- 
pered. Moses, on the other hand, displeased the Lord, 
by his persistence in stating difficulties and obstacles, 
when directed to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt 
into the promised land ; and though he had a distant 
view of Canaan, he was not permitted to enter upon or 
enjoy its blessings, while it was reserved to Joshua, 
who exhibited a more simple reliance on the word and 
the promise of the Lord, to lead the people, and take 
possession himself of the land that flowed with milk and 
honey. Instances of the like nature might be multiplied 
from the Scriptures, but it is unnecessary. 

It is answered that in these cases God gave support 
to the faithful by the exercise of his miraculous power, 
and that in our case it is not to be expected, as miracles 
have long since ceased. We reply that God is able 
now, and always was, to perform without miracle what- 
ever it may please him to do ; and whatever he has pro- 
mised, he will assuredly perform. His guidance and 
direction may now be relied on by all who sincerely 
desire do their duty. Prov. iii. 6. " In all thy ways 
acknowledge God, and he shall direct thy paths." Is. 
xxviii. 26. " God doth instruct him to discretion, and 
doth teach him." Is. xliii. 16. "I will make dark- 
ness light before thee, and crooked things straight." 
Ps. xxxvii. 5. " Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust 
also in him, and he shall bring it to pass." Is. xxx. 21. 
" Thine ear shall hear a word behind thee, saying, this 
is the way, walk ye in it." These exceeding great and 
precious promises were confided in by Luther, or he 
never would have encountered the difficulties, obstacles, 



209 



and dangers of resisting the usurpations, and exposing 
the abominations of popery, and of bringing a church to 
serve God out of mystical Babylon. He believed God, 
and received help in the time of need. We have strong 
facts also of a very recent date, proving the faithfulness 
of God to verify his word of promise to his people, when 
they seek to glorify him by extending the kingdom of 
Christ, honouring his word, and suppressing vice and 
ungodliness. What was it but confidence in the help 
of God, that encouraged the British and Foreign, as 
well as the American Bible Society, to undertake the 
grand enterprise of supplying a large, and then a larger, 
and afterwards a still larger portion of the human family 
with the Bible ? What animated the American Board 
of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and the various 
missionary societies in England and the continent, to 
assume the sublime duty of converting the world, but 
their belief that the work was pleasing to the Lord, and 
that he had made it the duty of his children to perform 
it, and would certainly afford his aid ? Has he forsaken 
any of the benevolent societies of the day, who have 
sought to advance his cause in obedience to his require- 
ments ? 

Even individuals reduced to the necessity of delibe- 
rating and acting alone, without any counsel or help other 
than that of their Almighty Friend, have, by casting 
themselves upon him, in the day of perplexity and trial, 
received all the direction and help which they needed, 
and have thus been enabled to accomplish what, but to 
the eye of faith, would seem impossible. The apostle 
tells " of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and 
of Jephthah, of David also, of Samuel, and the* pro- 
phets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought 
18* 



210 



righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths 
of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge 
of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed 
valiant in fight, and turned to flight the armies of the 
aliens." Confidence in God will draw forth his power 
to help now as much as it did in the days of those 
worthies. Why then should we doubt whether he will 
guide his people, when large numbers of them combine 
their prayers, their counsels, and their efforts to accom- 
plish a work so dear to his heart as the healing of the 
divisions that have rent his church in pieces, the restor- 
ing of peace among her warring sections, and re-esta- 
blishing the beauty and strength of her unity 1 

Let the friends of the Redeemer, then, only enter 
with their whole hearts upon the work which it is their 
plain duty to perform, and confidently trust in his al- 
mighty arm. He will crown their labours, in due time, 
with complete success, and the results will be glorious. 
The distance, alienation of affection, disputes, and con- 
tentions which now separate the disciples of Christ, and 
which are a reproach to the profession of religion, will 
give place to brotherly love, harmony, and peace. Hy- 
pocrites and unbelievers will not find so easy an entrance 
into the church, as they do now, in the sectarian strife 
to multiply the number of their followers ; and the in- 
creased facilities which will then exist to maintain a 
purer discipline, will render their expulsion more safe 
and easy. The doctrines and the duties inculcated in 
the Bible will be better understood, and exert a more 
powerful and evident influence upon those who bear the 
name of Christ. The standard of piety will be greatly 
elevated. The opposers of religion, instead of being 
strengthened in their opposition and unbelief by the 



211 



bigotry, hypocrisy, contentious dispositions, and incon- 
sistent walk of Christians, will be constrained to admire a 
more worthy exhibition by its possessors of the holy reli- 
gion of the Scriptures, and multitudes of them will be con- 
verted to the faith of the gospel. Both the strength and 
beauty of unity, which the church had lost during the 
long period of her divisions, will be restored. The 
light of Christianity will shine as in the days of the 
apostles, and with increasing lustre. The plenitude of 
God's blessing will no longer be withheld from his 
church, when his children shall be again united in affec- 
tion, in counsel, in action, and in name. The waste 
places in Zion will all be repaired. The power and 
wisdom of the whole united church will be combined to 
send the gospel to every creature, and the Holy Spirit, 
so long grieved and restrained in his influences, during 
the strife and contests of sects, will be poured out as 
rain upon the mown grass, and as showers that water the 
earth. God will raise up many labourers like Paul, and 
nations shall be born in a day, and soon will the world 
be subdued to the obedience of the gospel. The heavens 
shall drop down from above, and the skies shall pour 
down righteousness. The earth shall open, and bring 
forth salvation, and righteousness shall spring up to- 
gether, for the Lord hath created it. Then will the 
united churches of Christ be a crown of glory in the 
hands of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of 
our God. 



AN APPEAL 



TO ALL CHRISTIANS OF EVERY DENOMINATION 



Christian brethren, have we placed before you the 
picture of a gloomy fancy, or have we exhibited to you 
a sober view of the reality 1 Do you feel with us for the 
loss sustained by the individual Christian, the church, 
and the world, by means of the divisions in the family of 
the Saviour ? Are you willing to mourn with us over the 
breaches of the church, her desolations, disgraced con- 
dition, her low estate, and imminent danger? Let us 
then with united and humbled hearts adopt the language 
of the Psalmist: " God, thou hast cast us off; thou 
hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased ; O turn 
thyself to us again. Thou hast made the earth to trem- 
ble, thou hast broken it ; heal the breaches thereof, for 
it shaketh." Let us, with Asa and Josiah, with Heze- 
kiah, Daniel, and Ezra, confess our iniquities, and the 
iniquities of our fathers, which have provoked the Lord 
to anger, and let us supplicate a return of his mercy and 
his loving kindness, that he may restore the glory of his 
church, and smile upon his people who are called after 
his own name. 

Let us not only humble ourselves before our offended 
God, but exert ourselves to undo what we and our fath- 
ers have done ; employing our faculties, our privileges, 
and opportunities, to heal the divisions in the church, and 
restore to her the peace, love, and unity, which she en- 



213 

joyed in the primitive ages of Christianity ; yea, that the 
Lord may bestow upon her blessings still more abun- 
dant, even such as he has promised in his holy word to 
bestow upon her in the latter days. 

We ought, assuredly, to yield to the motives presented 
in the Bible to us as friends of Christ, and professors of 
his religion. Do we desire to possess evidence of our 
adoption into the family of God ? Let us then open our 
hearts to the exercise of brotherly love. Hereby do we 
know that we have passed from death unto life, if we 
love the brethren. 1 John hi. 14. Let us love, and ma- 
nifest our love by treating as friends the brethren ; not 
only those of our own name and party, but all who be- 
long to Christ. Whosoever doeth the will of God is his 
brother, sister, and mother ; and if they are so nearly 
and dearly related to him, we ought to feel that they are 
in like manner related to ourselves. 

Or do you desire the consolations peculiar to the obe- 
dient disciples of Christ ? " If there be any consolation 
in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the 
Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that 
ye be like minded, having the same love, being of one 
accord, of one mind." Phil. ii. 1, 2. Are you anxious 
to become established in the faith and practice of the 
gospel 1 Then M stand fast in one spirit, with one mind 
striving together for the faith of the gospel." Phil. i. 27. 
Do you long to exercise and exhibit the same mind that 
was also in our Lord and Saviour, knowing that he who 
has not the spirit of Christ is none of his 1 Then let your 
hearts' desire and prayer be like unto his, that his disci- 
ples may all be one, as he and the Father are one. Do 
you wish to manifest your love to the divine Redeemer ? 
Then keep his commandments ; and especially the new 



214 



commandment he gave his disciples, " that ye love one 
another as I have loved you." John xiii. 34. 

Do you wish, Christian brethren, to convince a gain- 
saying and unbelieving world of the reality of the Chris- 
tian religion by your exhibition of its character and influ- 
ence 1 Then labour to promote love among the breth- 
ren ; for " by this shall all men know that ye are my dis- 
ciples, if ye have love one to another." John xiii. 35. 
And let us all be one, according to the prayer of our 
Lord, that the world may know that the Father hath sent 
him. 

Is it our desire that the gospel may exert its power 
upon the lives of its professors, and upon the whole world 
now lying in wickedness and ruin 1 Why do we not see 
this desire fulfilled even now ? Does not our blessed 
Saviour himself instruct us that Christianity is diffusive 
in its nature like unto leaven 1 And have we not abun- 
dant means to propagate the gospel among those who 
have never heard its joyful sound, and to enforce its 
claims upon those who inhabit Christian climes 1 We 
have a thousand Bibles at our command where the pri- 
mitive Christians had one ; and we have millions of tracts, 
newspapers, and other productions of the press, while the 
apostles had none of these to minister the bread of life 
to the believer, and arouse the conscience of the unbe- 
liever. All these we have in addition to the living preach- 
er, and these we can send where he cannot be spared to 
go. We have, moreover, in the history of the church, 
in the history of the Jews, and of the world, and in the 
fulfilment of prophecy, subsequent to the days of the 
apostles, evidence as convincing perhaps as the miracles 
which were wrought, and the gift of tongues which was 
exercised in their day. The Holy Spirit has the same 



215 



power over the hearts of men to convince, persuade, and 
subdue, as he had in the days of Paul, and Peter, and 
John. Why then, why, do not Christians possess and 
exhibit religion in the life and power which they did then, 
and why do not the heathen receive the gospel as they 
did in the primitive ages ? This inquiry, we are happy 
to observe, has become one of intense interest. Where- 
fore is so little effected, while the means employed are 
so ample, and apparently adapted to the end sought to 
be accomplished ? Some attribute it to the weakness of 
our faith, and others to a lack of the spirit of prayer, or 
of zeal, or of self-denial in the Christians of modern 
times. And, no doubt, in these things we are greatly 
deficient ; yet it is difficult to ascertain how much more 
of these virtues and graces were exercised in the days 
of the apostles than at the present time. While we are 
disposed to admit that we come behind them in perhaps 
all the preceding particulars, do we not fall short chiefly 
in this, that we are not, as they were, of one heart and 
one soul ? Acts iv. 32. If the husband and wife, who 
live not as being heirs together of the grace of life, have 
thereby their prayers hindered, 1 Pet. iii. 7, who can tell 
whether the prayers and efforts of believers for the pros- 
perity of Zion are not hindered by their unholy divisions? 
We verily fear that the Holy Spirit is grieved by our 
breaches of the peace and unity of the brotherhood, so 
that he is unwilling to impart to his church more than a 
scanty measure of his influence. Can the spirit of peace 
and love delight to dwell and exert the fulness of his in- 
fluence in the midst of the controversies, strife, aliena- 
tion of heart, envy, jealousy, pride and vainglory of sects? 
Who knows whether God is not waiting for his children 
to restore peace and brotherly love among themselves, 



216 



and to the church its primitive unity, before it will ph 
him to put forth the fulness of his power upon the hearts 
of men in the evangelized and pagan world ? The re- 
buke which a holy God is certainly ministering to his 
people, may be continued until the occasion of it shall 
be removed. How can we act in the right spirit, or pray 
in the right mind, while we remain in our present state 
of unlawful division 1 A husband and wife, whose affec- 
tions are alienated from each other, cannot send up their 
united prayers to God ; and their individual prayers will 
be hindered ; much less can they be supposed to pray in 
the unity of the spirit when living in a state of actual se- 
paration induced by their disagreement. If they do not 
restrain prayer altogether, the duty cannot be performed 
in a proper frame of mind, for they cannot approach the 
mercy seat without a consciousness of living in a state 
which is offensive to God. So also the Christian, who 
is conscious of his duty, by God's requirement, to live in 
love and unity with all his brethren, " and that there may 
be no divisions among them," cannot, while living in a 
state of unlawful separation, come to the throne of grace 
with that confidence which is necessary to the perform- 
ance of acceptable prayer. " If our heart condemn us 
not, then have we confidence towards God." 1 John hi. 
21. But whose heart does not condemn him for his par- 
ticipation in the sin of division in the church of Christ 1 
Permit us to assure you that " God is greater than our 
hearts, and knoweth all things." 1 John hi. 20. Let us 
put away this sin, and then may we look for a more vig- 
orous faith, a faith that will with a clear conscience lay 
hold on the perfections and promises of God ; and then 
may we hope for the prevalence of fervent, earnest, hum- 
ble and persevering prayer ; and then will the united 



217 



supplications of God's people ascend to his throne ; and 
then may we expect to behold the manifestation of more 
scriptural zeal and self-denial. And then shall the great 
hinderance to the efforts and prayers of the Lord's ser- 
vants being removed, we may expect the influence of 
his Spirit to descend upon the church, as rain upon the 
mown grass, and as showers that water the earth. 

In urging upon you, Christian brethren, to unite your 
hearts and your energies to restore the original unity of 
the church, permit us to appeal to your love for the glory 
of the Saviour's name. As the apostle deprecated the 
formation of a party among the Corinthians, even to the 
exaltation of his own name, preferring infinitely that all 
the glory should be ascribed to Christ, let not us permit 
any name to stand in competition with his, nor to detract 
in the least degree from the honour due to him. Yea, 
let us not suffer any name to be great, but that of Christ, 
and " let every name be lost in his." Remember, we 
pray you, how Jesus connects his glory with the unity 
of his disciples ; for in praying to the Father for them, 
he says, " And the glory which thou gavest me, I have 
given them, that they may be one, even as we are one." 
John xvii. 22. 

We appeal to your love for the church of Christ, 
which he hath purchased with his own blood, and to 
your anxious care for the prosperity of that church, that 
she may grow with the increase of God, that she may 
answer the great objects for which she has been consti- 
tuted, and that she may be edified in every part. By 
your regard for these, we would urge you to pray and 
labour to restore unity and harmony to the members of 
that spiritual body of which Christ is the head, " from 
whom the whole body fitly joined togetkejc, and.compact- 
19 



218 



ed by that which every joint supplieth, according to the 
effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh 
increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love." 
Eph. iv. 16. By the most diligent, assiduous cultiva- 
tion of the spirit of brotherly affection and unity, let us 
roll away the reproach which the church is suffering 
through the divisions of her children ; and prove the fal- 
sity of the libels which have been published against the 
religion of the gospel, by showing that Christians can 
live together in harmony and love. 

Suffer us to make our appeal to you, as lovers of the 
truth of God, which is too precious to be longer sacrificed 
on the altar of sect and party. Until the watchmen 
shall see eye to eye, the church will be troubled and 
deformed with errors, and as long as each sect adheres 
to its standard of doctrine, so long will those errors be 
perpetuated. Let us then unite our most earnest en- 
deavours and our prayers to bring all Christians back to 
the only unerring standard of truth, the inspired writings 
of the Old and New Testaments, and to the rightful and 
only efficient and infallible teacher, the Holy Spirit. 
Let no writings of men be suffered to receive the honour 
which is due only to the word of God, and no teacher to 
bear any comparison with the Spirit of truth. Then 
" shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes 
of the blind shall see out of darkness." " They also 
that erred in spirit, shall come to understanding, and 
they that murmured shall learn doctrine." Let the 
blinded partisan who believes his church to be the only 
depository of the truth, and the members of his church 
the exclusive friends of the truth, be made to see that 
the cause of truth will be best advanced during the uni- 
versal prevalence of the gospel, when all party distinc- 



219 



tions will be abolished. And let us not forget to cherish 
those truths which are connected with the peace of the 
church, " Love the truth and peace." Zech. viii. 19. 
" Let us follow after the things which make for peace." 
In declaring his purpose to restore his favour to the peo- 
ple of Jerusalem, God promises, Jer. xxxiii. 6, that 
he "will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and 
truth." 

May we not indeed confidently appeal to you, as lo- 
vers of the peace of Jerusalem? Must the sword 
devour for ever? When shall it have an end? How 
dear is the peace of the church to the heart of the Sa- 
viour! In his last discourse with his disciples, pre- 
ceding his death, when his bowels were moved with 
tender emotion, he tells them, John xiv. 27, " Peace 
I leave with you. My peace I give unto you." And 
after he had risen from the dead, the disciples being 
assembled at evening, and the doors of the house 
being shut, he came and stood in the midst of them, 
and said, " Peace be unto you. Then were the dis- 
ciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus 
to them again, Peace be unto you." " And after eight 
days, his disciples were within, and Thomas was with 
them, then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and 
stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you." 
John xx. 19, 20, 21, 26. When shall the desires of 
the Saviour be accomplished in a conformity of the feel- 
ings and intercourse of his disciples, to his own bene- 
volent heart ? Even the children of the world shall, in 
the days to come, be hushed into peace, for " they shall 
beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears 
into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword 
against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 



220 



But they shall sit every man under his vine and under 
his fig-tree, and none shall make them afraid." Micah, 
iv. 3, 4. It cannot be that the followers of the Prince 
of Peace shall alone hearken to the voice of the grand 
seducer inciting to contention and division, when the 
nations of the earth shall hearken to the voice of reason 
and of God, so that the wolf shall lie down with the 
lamb, and the child shall play on the hole of the asp. 
There is already formed and in operation a " Peace So- 
ciety" whose efforts, we hope, God will bless, by mov- 
ing the nations of the earth for ever to sheath the sword 
of war. Already do we count upon the advantages 
which will result to the church of Christ, by the removal 
of the obstacles which war presents to the progress of 
Christianity. But how do we know, Christian brethren, 
whether the peace of civil communities and of nations 
is not suspended on the restoration of peace in the 
church of Christ? Perhaps the Lord may turn a deaf 
ear to the supplications of his people, to moderate the 
heat of political parties in this country, until they shall 
have banished the spirit of party from the church. Per- 
haps God will not incline the nations of the world to put 
up the devouring sword, while his children are continu- 
ing strife and divisions between one another. We have 
at least no right to assume that he will invert the order 
of things which he has himself established, by making 
the world the salt of the church, instead of leaving the 
church to be the salt of the earth ; or in other words, 
that he will give peace and unity to civil communities 
and to the nations of the earth, while the church remains 
the only theatre of war and divison. The Saviour tells 
his disciples, Mark ix. 50, " Have salt in yourselves, 
and have peace one with another." Let us not, dear 



221 



brethren, undervalue the blessings of peace in the church, 
which is so very dear to our Saviour. His gospel is 
called the "gospel of peace." At his birth, the angels 
announced to the shepherds "peace on earth." The 
blessing of peace is mentioned in the Bible perhaps 
more frequently than any other. Indeed the word is often 
used to embrace within its meaning every other bless- 
sing, as though none were of any value in comparison 
with it ; and as though God designed to teach us that 
there can be no compensation for the loss of peace ; and 
that whatever may be sacrificed for the sake of peace, 
the supposed loss will oftentimes prove to be gain. 

We address ourselves to the advocates and apologists 
of sect, and beseech them to examine well the ground 
on which they stand, and bring all their opinions to the 
test of the only standard of religious truth, the Holy 
Scriptures. We entreat them to remember how difficult 
it has always been to keep the church from departing 
from the writings of inspiration, and how prone men 
have always been to receive in their stead the command- 
ments, the traditions, and the fallacious reasonings of 
men. We pray you to reflect on the many and direful 
evils, the unlawful and unconstitutional character of 
divisions in the church, and on the beauty, the strength % 
and excellence of unity. Such evils can you entail, — - 
such blessings will you sacrifice on the altar of party 
strife? Consider, we implore you, the tremendous guilt 
connected with the maintenance of disunion in the 
household of Christ, the consequent disgrace of the 
church, and the incalculable loss of precious souls. 

We address ourselves also to all who are engaged in 
religious controversy, although they may not be the ad- 
vocates or apologists of sect, and we beg of them to, 
19* 



222 



weigh well the tendency of their labours, especially at 
this crisis in the affairs of the church. Think, Christian 
brethren, whether our divine Master has not a more 
profitable service for you to perform, than to keep up 
contentions which tend to widen and multiply, or at 
least continue the breaches already existing in the 
church. The friends of Christ have now no time to spare 
for these purposes, when the providence of God calls 
for thousands of labourers to be otherwise employed. 
There is little danger that Christians will forget, or fail 
to appreciate, the truths of God's word, while they shall 
be like their Saviour, diligently employed in doing good, 
and obeying his command to evangelize the world. 
Now, if ever, we should be following after the things 
which make for peace, and let the din of controversy 
cease to distract the Christian community, while the 
foes of the church are thickening upon her. Where is 
the profit or propriety of discussing every subtle diffi- 
culty in the speculative theology of the church, while 
the church itself, as a house divided against itself, is in 
imminent danger of being brought to desolation. 

We would appeal to all the friends of the reunion of 
the church, and exhort them to " be strong and of good 
courage ; be not afraid nor be ye dismayed, for the Lord 
our God (as we verily believe) is with you." He has 
established the church originally upon the basis of unity, 
and she shall again be one, and your prayers and exer- 
tions for healing its divisions will be pleasing to him, and 
in due time you will reap, if you faint not ; for he will 
command his blessing upon you, and prosper your ef- 
forts. He can melt away every obstacle that now pre- 
sents itself against the holy cause which you have es- 
poused ; and sooner than you now dare to hope. Mul- 



223 



titudes who are at present blinded by the influence of 
sect, will come up to the help of the Lord, to the help 
of the Lord against the mighty. And even if you should 
fail, brethren, what can be the loss? Consider the 
means we propose to be pursued for restoring the unity 
of the church, and say whether these will leave the 
church in a worse condition than she now is 1 Who can 
doubt that she will be greatly benefited, when by them 
the religion of Christ will be raised to a higher standard, 
as well as be more widely diffused through the world ? 
You and your children will participate in the general 
blessing. At all events, the reward of the peacemaker 
will be yours ; for Christ himself has declared, " blessed 
are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the chil- 
dren of God." 

We appeal to the ministers of the gospel of Christ, for 
to you belongs the principal agency in this work of the 
Lord. You are the watchmen on the walls of Zion, ap- 
pointed to make strict observation of the position of the 
enemy, and of every movement he makes in his assaults 
upon your Master's kingdom ; and to you it belongs as 
officers under the Captain of salvation, so to marshal and 
lead on his forces as to ensure the conquest he designs 
to make of the world, now under the usurped dominion 
of Satan. To you it pertains to collect the scattered 
bands of Christ, to persuade them to dismiss the spirit 
of discord, and to infuse into them the spirit of love and 
unity. Of all men, you are to exert the mightiest in- 
fluence. By all means, let there be no divisions among 
you. 

We make our appeal to the laymen of our churches, 
and especially those of the legal profession. You are 
beginning to assume a labour and exert an influence in 



224 



matters of religion, which a few years ago was almost 
wholly confided to and borne by the clergy. We count 
much, and place great reliance on your aid in this holy 
enterprise. You are 'certainly free from many of the 
entanglements of sect, in which the ministers of the 
gospel are involved. You are not bigots, and it is with 
you to sustain and encourage such of the clergy as would 
fain break the iron chain which holds them. As you 
are capable of understanding the subjects discussed in 
this work, we earnestly solicit your attention, and the 
exercise of your deliberate judgement upon them ; and 
if you come to the same conclusions with ourselves, as 
to the evils, the unlawful and unconstitutional character 
of sectarian divisions, and the duty of Christians to 
restore the original unity of the church, we may assure 
ourselves of your cordial co-operation. 

We would address ourselves also to the conductors of 
religious newspapers and other periodicals. You are 
doubtless conscious of your power in the direction of 
public sentiment ; and we are aware that if you frown 
upon our enterprise, the difficulty of accomplishing it 
will be greatly increased. Should you smile upon it, 
we would count on you as our most powerful auxiliaries. 
As you acknowledge your obligation to improve the ta- 
lents committed, in the providence of God, to your care, 
and especially your duty to advance the best interests of 
the church, not of a sect or party, but of the church of 
Christ, we may reasonably expect that you will not 
condemn our scheme without examination, nor withhold 
your countenance, if you deem us entitled to it, from the 
merits of our cause. 

To our young men just commencing or about to com- 
mence the service of Christ in the ministry or otherwise, 



225 



we would speak a word of entreaty. See that you build 
not up the walls of partition. You are desirous of 
doing something for your Saviour, for your fellow- 
Christians, and for sinners, upon which you may look 
back with pleasure, when your race shall have been 
run, as well as during all the stages of your course. 
While you resolve to be content with any place which 
God may assign for the performance of your labours in 
his vineyard, you will not shrink from occupying a posi- 
tion which may require arduous toil, and persevering 
watchfulness, and severe self-denial to sustain. Nor 
would you refuse an employment which bids fair to 
bring much honour to the Lord you desire to serve, and 
much of everlasting benefit to immortals souls. Here, 
then, is presented to you an enterprise worthy the ambi- 
tion (if that word may be used in an innocent sense) of 
a Christian soldier, of a youthful Christian soldier, 
whose bosom beats with ardor to hasten the victory 
which Christ hath purchased with his blood ; an enter- 
prise which, when accomplished, will constitute the 
"bond of perfectness," to give unity, beauty, and 
strength to the whole system of means ordained of God, 
to bring back to their allegiance a revolted, ruined world. 
We appeal to Christians of every denomination. We 
offer you the right hand of fellowship, as belonging to 
the same family of Christ, exposed to the same dangers, 
dependent upon the same protector, supported by the 
same hopes, sustained by the same means of grace, 
having in view the same end, and hoping to inhabit the 
same heaven. We long to have the wall of separation 
between us not lowered merely, but razed to the ground, 
so that there may be no division between us, and that 
we may be one, even as Jesus and the Father are one, 



226 



one in affection, in counsel, in action, and in name. 
Brethren, we have no separate interests ; your church 
is ours, and our church is yours. All things are yours, 
and all things are ours. We and you are Christ's, and 
Christ is God's. Wherefore should we any longer con- 
tend? Wherefore should we any more live apart? 
Has not God put us together, as branches of the same 
vine, as sheep of the same fold, brethren of the same 
household, and members of the same body ? why then 
should we suffer men to keep us asunder? On unim- 
portant points we may differ, but why should we con- 
tend? 

We appeal to the Christians of America. To you 
much is given, and of you much is required. You are 
unfettered by religious establishments, and to you the 
task of abolishing sects, and reuniting the church, will be 
comparatively easy. The church, in this country, is 
not connected with state, of course the state will not 
impede her in any scheme of reformation she may pur- 
sue, nor will she disturb the state by any changes which 
she may undergo. We are privileged beyond the rest 
of the world, in the enjoyment of liberty of conscience, 
and the pure ministry of the gospel. Let us improve 
our advantages and facilities. 

We close with the following extract from a sermon 
published in the National Preacher of February, 1834. 
" To American Christians, it is believed, is assigned in 
" the purposes of heaven, much of the honour of that 
" moral renovation of the human family, which is ere 
" long to be experienced. A little less than a century 
"since, the immortal Edwards employed his mighty 
" mind in attempting to show the probability that the 
"millenium will commence in this country. Whether 



227 



" or not this opinion is well founded, there can be no 
" doubt that Christians in America may have a share in 
" the high honour of diffusing the blessings of that happy 
" period throughout the globe. It is a momentous 
" question, one which ought to come home to every 
*' heart that feels the love of God, whether their share 
" in this honour shall be great or small. Could I raise 
" my feeble voice to a note which might be heard through 
" the breadth of the land, I would urge on every saint 
" that love to all the household of faith, by which the 
" Saviour has taught that the disciples shall be known. 
11 1 would say to him, brother, as you love the Saviour, 
" as you desire to see his glories spread around the 
" world, and the souls of men redeemed from hell, take 
" heed that whenever you meet an individual bearing 
" his image, by what name soever he may be called, 
'♦you embrace him in the arms of Christian affection, 
" and be ready to co-operate with him in every good 
" work. Too long has the church crippled her own 
" energies, and retarded her growth by mutual dissen- 
" sion, and the spirit of party. As the brightness of a 
'* more glorious day begins to dawn upon her, let this 
" spirit cease, and its place be occupied by that love 
" which seeketh not her own." 



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